Reunited
by K9wolf369
Summary: What if there was a way to bring Latios back to life? What if they all went on an adventure?
1. Prolouge

Reunited

Hi everyone, this is my first fanfiction that I have written and would like to have some positive feedback. I know my writing isn't great but I have always wanted to write a story about the Lati's so here it is. Also, write anything you want me to write about in later chapters.

* * *

The tidal wave was coming for the small island of Altomare as Latias and Latios flew out towards it. The destructive power of the wave tore through old ruins like a knife through butter. Ash, Misty, Brock, Lorenzo and Bianca watched on as the protectors of Altomare enveloped themselves in light and collapsed the giant wave. A dazzling blue light erupted from the site of impact and into the sky like a giant hyper beam.

"We need to go out there now!" Ash cries, racing towards the docks

"Ash, wait up!" Misty calls in vain. The docks were mainly empty due to the wave pulling the boats out to sea, except the few that had been tied up. Ash untied the nearest boat jumped in and started the engine.

"Ash, do you know how to drive that?" Lorenzo questions.

"Erm….. No" ash replied sheepishly, "Can you?"

"Yes, now everyone get in" Lorenzo replies. With a roar of the engine, the 5 of them drive towards the light. ¾ of the way there, the light fades away.

"Latias! Latios!" Ash shouts. They continue to drive toward the area where the light is when some Mantine and Chinchou's swam towards the boat, with Latias resting on their backs. Ash and Bianca pull Latias aboard and wake her gently. Latias hugs Ash and cries on his shoulder. A saddened mood envelops the boat as everyone realises what has happened. Suddenly, Latias' eyes start to shine as Latios uses some of the little strength left to use Sight Sharing. They leave Earth and continue to move away until the Earth is no longer visible. Instead, they are left in a sea of black when Latios' soul dew floats into Bianca's hands. The Sight Sharing ends and the five find themselves in the secret garden. Bianca walks up to the soul dew cradle and places the new Latios soul dew into it.

A few days later, Ash, Misty and Brock are all leaving by boat when they see a girl waving at them. They slow down as they reach the docks and Latias in her human form runs up to Ash who has now climbed out of the boat. Latias pants heavily before smiling at Ash and giving him a drawing. She then kisses him on the cheek (much to Brock's annoyance) and telepathizes

'_We have a way to free Latios from his soul dew. It will take time but promise me that you will come back after your Silver Conference tournament and help us get him back'_

Ash stares back dumbfounded before Latias turns and runs back towards the garden. He then unrolls the drawing to find a very detailed picture of him with Pikachu on his shoulder.

"Well we need to get going if you want to make the Silver Conference in time" an annoyed Brock states. Ash turns and climbs into the boat and they set off into the sunset (so clichéd but I think that's what happens).


	2. Return to Altomare

**Uranium235 – I didn't want the prologue to be too long as it is just repeating what happened in the movie, but with some extra detail.**

**Rastan – Thanks for the constructive criticism. I need to improve my writing skills and I thought that writing about something I love would help and if I keep updating, your advice would be much appreciated. I hope this chapter is more to your liking.**

**Lightningblade49 – It's following on from the film and because Latios dies and Ash leaves, I felt that the Johto League should not be tampered with.**

**SoulNinjas – Thanks for the advice. I've now devised a plan that will hopefully bring in more detail**

**Enjoy**

* * *

**Return to Altomare**

1 month later

Ash, Misty and Brock depart the SS Willow at the docks of Altomare, stepping from the cool shade, into the sweltering sunlight.

"Cheer up Ash, you've been this way since you lost to Harrison in the Silver Conference, just over a week ago" the red headed girl says with a hint of concern in her voice

"Misty's right Ash, you've suffered losses before. Why are you so upset about the Silver Conference?" Brock says.

"I suppose after beating Gary, I thought I really could win the whole tournament and to lose in the next round was a massive blow for me" Ash replies gloomily, trudging towards the pokemon centre.

"Well at least you did beat Gary" Misty states. Ash smiles

"Yeah, I guess I did. Sorry for being this miserable guys and thanks for the support"

"Hey, that's what friends are for" Brock responds as they enter the pokemon centre. "I phoned Bianca when we were entering the docks telling her that we have arrived so she shouldn't be long"

As if on cue, a girl with brown hair, a white beret and skirt, and a green jumper runs into the pokemon centre panting hard from the long and arduous run.

"Ash, you need to come quickly. It's Latias, she's been acting strange" Bianca gasps

"What? Where is she?" Ash replies hastily

"In the garden" Bianca pants. She and Ash then run out the door with Misty on their tail, until she realises that Brock isn't with them.

"Ash! Bianca! Wait up!" Misty futilely shouts. She turns around and sees Brock on one knee trying to charm Nurse Joy. Misty storms over to him and grabs him by the ear, pulling him away.

"What have I told you about flirting with Nurse Joy, Brock? We need to go with Ash and Bianca"

"AAARRRGGGHHH, I'm sorry Misty. Let me go so we can go quicker." Brock cries, trying to avoid further pain. Misty complies and they run off to try and find Ash and Bianca.

By this time, Ash and Bianca have reached the secret garden entrance by Lorenzo's woodwork shop.

"Ash, be careful. Latias hasn't let me or Lorenzo into the garden for a few days now." Bianca quietly says.

"That's not like her." Ash replies concerned, "What's happened since I left?"

"It started a week and a half ago when Latias was playing with some of the pokemon in the garden and I was drawing them. They all looked so happy playing together. However it all ended when they disturbed a Beedrill nest. The Beedrill attacked all the pokemon playing together with a variety of poison and bug type attacks. Lorenzo and I had to heal all of the pokemon because taking them to the pokemon centre would make them wonder why we have so many wild pokemon injured and could lead to the finding of the secret garden. We used all sorts of berries and everyone pulled through, even Latias despite the amount of bug type attacks that hit her as well as some toxics. That was until roughly one week ago when she began to stop laughing. Then she stopped playing jokes, smiling, having fun and playing with the other pokemon. I thought there could be some poison left in her but she rejected the berries and me. I'm hoping you can get through to her"

"Wow, poor Latias." Ash mutters with a tear in his eye. "Do you have any pecha berries in case she is still poisoned?"

"Yes." Bianca replies handing over the pecha berries to Ash, "Good luck"

"Thanks. I won't stop until she becomes her usual self," Ash promises. He turns and walks into the secret garden.


	3. The Kiss

**Thank you for the reviews, this chapter is much longer as all have been saying they should be. Furthermore, I will try to post at least once a month but I do have a lot of things going on at the moment. Enjoy!**

"speech"

'telepathy'

_'character thoughts'_

* * *

**The Kiss**

The sunlight is shining like always as Ash enters the secret garden. The smell of fresh air blended with fresh grass makes ash feel relaxed despite his heart racing with nerves. He walks down the stone steps remembering every detail as he went, passing the lake with poliwags and yanma, the wind chimes that alerted the Lati's to danger and past berry bushes and apple trees with oddish playing between them. Ash walks onwards and see's Latias lying down at the edge of the lake by the swing, which reminds him of the first time here. He sneaks up on Latias and sits on the swing.

" I remember the first time is was here, and you were so eager to play," Ash reminisces, "I remember falling off the swing when you changed form from human to pokemon and the fun we had in this garden"

'You're not real' Latias telepathizes

"Sorry?" Ash replies confused

'You're not real. You are a figment of my imagination, playing tricks on me.' Latias sobs

"Then how do I know of the garden and our first time together?"

'If I know, than my mind can produce images that know about the past' Latias replies coldly. Ash stands and walks over to Latias and sits by her side.

"Fair point. But how do you know I'm not real if you haven't looked at me?"

'Because it has been happening a lot, recently. No-one is allowed in the garden apart from me and the wild pokemon and yet you are here. That is how I know.'

"Latias" Ash says sadly, "What has happened to you? I know I'm real - "

'YOU ARE NOT REAL' Latias shouts flinging Ash away with a powerful psychic. Ash hits a tree hard knocking the wind out of him. He sits for a couple of minutes before picking himself up and walking towards Latias again.

"Look at me Latias, then you will know that it really is me" Ash says kindly

'No' Latias replies harshly and gets up to leave. As she tries to run, Ash grabs her hand, spins her round and kisses her. Latias' insides warm as she kisses him back, a fluttering in her stomach as she realises that it really is Ash. Ash breaks the kiss and hugs Latias tightly. She melts into his hug, and hugs him back.

'Why did I just kiss her?' Ash wonders, 'Was it just to make her happy again, or am I ...in love?' They stay locked in each other's embrace for a couple of minutes when Ash says

"We should go and see Bianca and Lorenzo. They're really worried about you"

'Ok, but first…' Latias telepathizes and takes Ash's cap and flies off with it

"Hey, give it back!" Ash exclaims and pursues Latias around the garden, smiling all the time. Ash soon admits defeat. "I see you haven't lost any of that energy since my first visit". Latias giggles and gives the cap back to Ash and they both leave for Lorenzo's house. Before they enter Latias turns invisible and tells Ash to pretend he hasn't been able to help her and Ash agrees. Ash then raps his knuckles on the door and after a few seconds, Lorenzo opens the door.

"Have you done it? Is Latias back to normal?" Lorenzo asks quickly.

"Let's go inside where I can tell you and Bianca what has happened" Ash replies. Lorenzo nods and lets Ash and an invisible Latias inside. He walks into the living room to be greeted with a very angry Misty.

"Where have you been, Ash Ketchum? You go running off in a maze for a city and leave me with this pervert" She screams pointing to Brock.

"Sorry Misty, but Latias wasn't acting like she was the last time we visited. I had to go and see if I could cheer her up and make her better"

"Oh." Misty replies, "What happened?"

"We need Bianca first" Ash responds, and if on cue, Bianca comes down the stairs and joins everyone else. There was silence for a minute as everyone got comfortable and then Ash began,

"I went into the garden and saw Latias by the swing. I walked over to her and tried to make her realise that I had come back, but she thought I was a fabrication and attacked me. I got back up and tried again before coming here." Silence followed

"And did it work?" Bianca asked. Suddenly Latias shouted 'BOO' and became visible behind the sofa making everyone jump. "Latias! You're back"

"Well done Ash." Lorenzo says, "But how did you do it? We've tried everything from pranks of our own to favourite meals"

"Hehehe, it's a secret." Ash replies blushing, "Now what about reviving Latios from the Soul Dew?" He queries, trying to change the subject

'Come with me and I'll tell you' says Latias turning invisible, lifting him up and speeding out the house.

"Waaaaaaaah, Latias, slow down!" Ash cries, so Latias slows and puts Ash back on the floor to walk the rest of the way to the secret garden. Latias then turns to her human form, loses her invisibility and cuddles up to Ash for the remainder of the walk.

When they get to the garden Latias asks,

'Ash, why did you kiss me?'

"Because, I needed you to realise that I am real and to get you back to your former self" Ash replies softly

'Any other reasons?' Latias questions. Ash stops walking and looks nervously at Latias

"And because I… well… I… I love you Latias." Latias' stomach did summersaults when she heard him say those words.

'I love you too Ash'. They then kissed passionately for a couple of minutes. When they broke off, they notice Bianca staring at them, mouth agape.

"Hey Bianca." Ash says nervously.

"Is that how you got Latias back?" Bianca asks, eyes still wide open. Ash goes redder than Latias' feathers and nods. "I knew it! That's why you blushed back home and how Latias took such a liking to you the first time you visited" She exclaims finally blinking.

"Wait, are you saying Latias loved me from when we first met?" Ash asks confused

"Well she has never taking a liking to anyone else as quickly as you and by the way she's blushing I'd say I'm correct aren't I Latias?" Latias nods and turns her head away in embarrassment.

'The first time I saw you, Ash, was in the Altomare water race. You went to quickly round a corner, lost your balance and I saved you from crashing into the wall. I then saw you stare up at where I was invisible and I looked into your eyes and fell for you immediately. That's why I decided to help you and pulled you along. You would have won as well if it wasn't for my brother pulling us off course, but I just couldn't get you out of my head. Then you saved me the next day from Team Rocket and I felt warm inside when you held my hand to get away. I always have loved you Ash'.

"Wow. I remember all of that." Is all Ash can say, stunned by the backstory

"Awww you two are so cute together" Bianca teases making the pair blush even more, " but we need to get to the secret garden, Lorenzo is waiting there for us."

"Right, let's go." Ash replies, "Oh and Bianca, can you keep this a secret from everyone else, I'm not confident about letting everyone know that we're together"

"I understand" Bianca replies nodding and they all run off to the secret garden as the sun sets in the horizon.

* * *

**If anyone wants something to appear in later chapters, either post it in the reviews or PM me. I also need a name of a berry for the next chapter that isn't already in the pokemon games, so your idea would be most appreciated.**


	4. The Ingredients

I have devised a team for Ash up to this point in the anime: Pikachu, Charizard, Bayleef, Cyndaquil, Snorlax and Phanpy. Thank you for the berry names, I have decided to go with Hawk 2012's berry, but as there were only two people who put berry names in I will use Ferosianinja's berry in a later chapter. Another question, should I do the gyms in order of the games or any order?

"speech"

'telepathy'

_'character thoughts'_

* * *

**The Ingredients**

Ash, Latias and Bianca enter the garden through the mirage wall and walk over to the soul dew. Lorenzo is waiting for them there and is reading a book from the library with Pikachu perched on his shoulder. As the trio get closer, Lorenzo looks up and smiles.

"Ah, there you are. Why did you run off and go the long way to the garden Latias? You could have just gone through my workshop."

"I wanted to talk to Ash alone." Latias replies, trying to hide her blush

"Right." Lorenzo says, not sure if Latias is telling the truth, "Well, now we are all here we need to collect some ingredients before we begin."

"How do you know how to revive Latios? Not that I don't want him back, but I thought a soul dew was the end for a Latios or Latias?" Ash queries.

"I was in the library some time ago and I remembered a story about the first Latios and Latias that arrived here and saved the city. When the Latios died, the old man could not believe that the legendary pokemon had used up all its power to protect the city. So he searched for a way to revive the Latios. His wife, son and himself went and searched for a method on how to revive the Latios. He searched all over Hoenn for a way to revive the Latios but all methods failed. He resulted in trying something he had learned, from when he was a child. They were four parts to the revival – some revival herbs, a rare berry called a Mint Trillium, two people who knew the Latios very well and someone with a pure aura. The old man mixed the berries and revival herbs into a paste and covered the soul dew with it. The old man and his wife held hands while their son held the soul dew in between them. The old couple had to think of a great memory of the Latios while the son had to push his aura into the soul dew. The soul dew began to glow and blew the family away, and in the soul dew's place was the Latios. However, the son was very weak and so the Latios merged his and the son's aura together. Hence how Latias' and Latios' can shapeshift." Lorenzo lectures, "Me and you Ash will find some revival herbs near the sea while Latias and Bianca will go and get the Mint Trillium."

"Right then, let's get going" an enthusiastic Ash exclaims. With that, Latias and Bianca went further into the secret garden as Ash and Lorenzo exited the secret garden and headed for the coast.

(with Bianca and Latias) Bianca and Latias head deeper into the secret garden, following a path only known to Lorenzo's family and the Lati's. It is the most secret area on Altomare, so no-one has tampered with the grotto. They enter and stand/levitate, soaking in the amazing sight: A lake, shining from the midday sun with a waterfall at the opposite side, creating a rainbow.

'Should we tell Ash about this place?' Latias questions

"Not unless Lorenzo thinks the secret is 100% sure that he won't tell anyone"

'He is trustworthy though, what has he done to not gain our trust and my heart?'

"I know what you mean Latias. I trust him fully but Lorenzo still has some doubt that should disappear when Latios is back"

'Yeah, you're right. Speaking of Latios, we really need the berries' Latias glided over to the waterfall and uses psychic as she goes through to keep herself dry. She picks up the Pistachio coloured berry and flies back to Bianca. 'Here we are, lets head back, I'm getting the feeling that something bad might happen to Ash and Lorenzo.'

"Don't worry Latias, Ash reached the last 8 of the Silver Conference, they'll be fine"

(with Ash and Lorenzo) "So where are the Mint Trillium berries? I saw the girls stay in the secret garden" Ash enquiries

"Sorry but I can't answer that. Only my family and the Lati's know where to find the berries. It has been that way for hundreds of years, I can't tell unless I have no doubt that you would intentionally or unintentionally tell someone about such a place." Lorenzo says sternly.

"Oh" replies a dejected Ash, "Well, we have a job to do, so let's get it done". The two walk out of the main part of the town and to a beach hidden from the city by a huge cliff. The sea was calm and Ash notices it went into a little cave in the cliff.

"In that cave, there is a lake where the revival herbs are." Lorenzo states. The pair walk into the cave and reach the embankment.

"Where are they and how do we get them?" Ash questions

"They are right at the bottom of the lake so you'll have to swim down and get them"

"On it" was the reply, but just before Ash could strip down to his boxers, a group of Quagsire jump out of the water looking angry. "Uh, I just want to get some revival herbs for a friend if you don't mind" Ash says cautiously. One of the Quagsires stepped forward and let loose with a hydro pump. Ash just had enough time to dive out of the way before the attack hit. Pikachu responded with a thunderbolt but the Quagsires stood there and took the hit.

"It won't work buddy, they are partially ground type, but I know who is super effective against them. Go Bayleef!" Ash through the poke ball and his Bayleef appeared. She turned and ran at Ash and pushed him to the gorund

"BAY!" Bayleef exclaims

"Hey Bayleef, I'm happy to see you too, but we have a problem at the moment" Bayleef gets off Ash and turnes around to see the five Quagsires getting ready to unleash a mud shot. "Hit them with razor leaf" Ash exclaimes and Bayleef complies, whipping her head round and leting loose a flurry of sharp leaves that hit the targets before they could fire off their own attacks.

"Now use vine whip to drive them off" Bayleef sends out her vines and hits the Quagsires, making them turn, jump back into the lake and swim away. "Good job Bayleef, return" Ash said, looking very happy with his Bayleef's performance.

"Now I know how you got to the final 8 of the Silver Conference" Lorenzo observes. Ash smiles and strips to his boxers and dives into the lake. He doesn't take long to reach the bottom and pulls some revival herbs from the ground and swims back up.

"Here we are" Ash says looking happy

"Great, now put your clothes back on and we'll go back to the secret garden" Ash pulls on his clothes, and they walk out, talking about the different strategies Ash has used in past tournaments.

* * *

**This was meant to include the next chapter, but once I started writing, I got carried away and I think this is a good place to stop. Once again, should I do the gyms in game order or when I get to a town/city. Also, anything you want to read in later chapters, don't hesitate to share.**


	5. Resurrection

The next chapter is here and we are going into the past a little bit, but before you start to read, I would like to say thank you to both Rastan and Ferosianinja for their continued support and help with my story.

"speech"

'telepathy'

_'character thoughts'_

(my thoughts/views)

* * *

**Resurrection**

Ash and Lorenzo walk into the secret garden to see Latias and Bianca sitting down waiting for them with the berries placed beside them. Latias turns and flies over to them both bubbling with excitement.

'Do you have the Revival Herbs?'

"Of course we do Latias, I don't want to disappoint everyone by not bringing them back" said Ash as he holds them up.

'Yeah!' squeals Latias, 'Let's begin already'.

"You're quite excited about this aren't you Latias?" Bianca states.

'Of course I am. My brother will be alive again.'

"It will take a few minutes to prepare the paste so why don't you go and play for a few minutes Ash and Latias?" Lorenzo tells them

"Ok then, let's go Latias". Ash starts to run. Latias giggles and gives chase, catching up to him in a couple of seconds and taking his hat from his head. "Oh no, not this again. Give me my hat back!" Latias continues to fly away, keeping just out of reach of Ash so he cant get his hat. Latias flies faster and reaches the swing, placing the hat on the seat. Ash reaches the swing panting, out of breath.

'Let's go on the swing like the first time'

"Ok then …. I need a rest …. After that run" Ash pants, putting on his hat as he sits down on the swing. Latias transforms into her human form and sits behind him.

'Ash, I noticed when you first arrived that you had a different scent on your body. Can you explain?'

"Well, when Lorenzo and I went to get the Revival Herbs, we came across an angry group of Quagsire. They started to attack us so I sent out my Bayleef to defeat them. When I release her though, she always has to knock me over for some reason."

'Well that clears things up a little.' The two stay on the swing for a while longer, Latias resting her head on Ash's shoulder. After two minutes of silence Latias telepathizes 'We better head back now, Lorenzo should be ready'.

"Your right, but no flying off with my hat".

'Then I'll just take it and run' and so Latias grabs Ash's hat and starts to run back to the Soul Dew

"Hey! That's not funny Latias. Come back here" Latias giggles and continues running. Ten minutes later, they reach the Soul Dew and Ash is once again, panting heavily.

'You should get fitter Ash'

"Yeah, maybe … I should". Lorenzo laughs softly to himself and starts to smother the Sould Dew in the paste. "Wait, if we revive Latios, won't the tidal wave come back and destroy Altomare?" Ash exclaims.

Lorenzo smiles before saying "You are very thoughtful Ash. Always looking out for everyone – a trait that only the purest of auras can do. There is no need to worry though. Latios has been turned into a Soul Dew so he is connected to the waters of Altomare. Once we resurrect him, he will still be connected to these waters. This means that as long as Latios is alive, then the waters of Altomare will not destroy the city."

"Wow" is all Ash can say.

"Indeed. We are ready to begin. Latias and Bianca, you two need to hold hands to form a gap in the middle. Ash, you will stand in the middle holding the Soul Dew. Now, Bianca and Latias, think of a time when you were with Latios which makes you extremely happy. Ash, once the Soul Dew has absorbed all the paste and is glowing, focus your mind and concentrate all your energy into your hands." The three nod their heads and comply.

Latias knew immediately the thought she was going to think. She had gone off wondering the city as a human and was jumped by a tall man with blue hair. She squealed and he laughed. She then realised it was her brother. It was the first time he had ever come out into the city in human form. She was really excited and started to show him around the city, telling him the best restaurants, cafes, book stores and poke marts. They had great time, especially when eating an ice cream as Latios kept getting some on his nose.

Bianca had to think a little while before she thought of her memory. She was walking home from the museum when she noticed a man watching her. She looked at him and he looked at her. He was 6ft 2inches, had spiky blue hair, firm arms and a soft sturdy face. A crowd of tourists walked in front of him and when they moved, he was gone. She continued home and was mugged. She cried out and gave chase. However, it did not last long as the blue haired man dived out of the alleyway and tackled the man to the floor. He took the bag back, gave it to Bianca and kissed her before leaving. She was astonished. She had butterflies in her stomach and felt overjoyed.

The two thoughts combined made the Soul Dew shimmer. The paste sank into the quickly into the Soul Dew. Ash focused all his energy into the palm of his hands and from there it transferred to the Soul Dew. A bright light shone and a wave of psychic energy blew everyone away from the Soul Dew.

Latias unsteadily rose off the ground. She had shifted from the shock of the force. She looked to where the Soul Dew was and saw a large blue and white dragon lying on the floor, breathing steadily. The dragon levitated off the ground and turned round to see his sister staring back at him. Latias started to cry. Tears of happiness fell down her face as she flew over and hugged her brother.

'You're back Latios. You really are back'

'Sister, don't cry. You're stronger than this'

'I don't care how strong I am, I was so lonely without you and now your back I don't want to lose you again'

'It's ok Latias, I won't ever leave you unless I can't stop it. You know that'. Latias and Latios broke form their hug and turned to see Bianca and Lorenzo running towards them.

"Latios! I can't believe it's really you" Bianca sobbed.

'It is though thanks to you three' Latios replied.

"Actually Latios, it wasn't us three that saved you. It was Latias, Bianca and –" Lorenzo started when Latias gave out a shrill of pain and collapses onto the floor

'ASH!' she cries, 'We need to get to Ash!' Latios locates where Ash is with a quick scan of the area and takes Latias over to him.

'I take it he is the third member?'

"Yes" Bianca replies.

'He has lost too much energy trying to heal me. I need to give him some of it back'

'I'm going to help' Latias said with steely determination, despite the pain she was in. Latios looked unsure,

'I'm not sure you should Latias. It –'

'I don't care what you say, I'm still going to help. We love each other and I don't like the state he's in. I will help.'

'Ok then, remember what Ash did to revive me.' Latias nodded. ' Do the same as he did, but don't give too much or he'll die from too much aura.' Both of the Lati's focused part of their aura to their hands (paws?) and released them into Ash. His body glowed as the aura went into his body and then it stopped.

"Is he going to make it?" Bianca asks. Latios looks at Latias and telepathises

'I'm not sure.'

* * *

If you have any ideas that you would like to see in this fanfic, don't hesitate to write a review or pm.


	6. Recovery

**Hey there everyone, this is Chapter 6. Apologize again that this chapter has taken a long time but with a lot of exams, I haven't had the chance to write and post it until now. The future chapters should be posted a lot more frequently as I have something like a 12 week holiday (Hurray!). I have also taken all of your comments into account and I hope this chapter is more to your liking.**

"speech"

'telepathy'

_'character thoughts'_

* * *

Recovery

An orange glow illuminates the room. Ash is lying on a bed in the pokemon centre, with Latias hovering next to him. Her eyes are blurred from the tears she has shed for her love. Since Latias and Latios had given part of their aura to Ash, he has been in a coma-like state, unmoving, trying to stay alive. It was now two days after the incident and Latias was getting more and more worried. She transformed into her human form and starts to talk to him.

"Ever since I first saw you was actually when you arrived in Altomare. You were so excited and full of energy. You treated your pokemon with the respect of humans and I admired that. I decided to follow you for a while through the streets of Altomare where you came across a notice for the Tour de Altomare. You immediately wanted to sign up and Misty joined you. You then turned around and faced me. Even though I was invisible, I thought that you could see more than everyone else. As we looked at each other, I knew that you where the one for me. I felt an attraction to you that I had never felt before. When you saved me from Team Rocket, I was even more grateful and even more in love with you". Latias rests her head on Ash's chest and continues speaking, "I need you Ash. I can't live without you. I feel that if you were to die, I would die too. I don't know how, I don't know why. All I do know is that you need to come back to me Ash. Come back to me! Latias breaks down into new, fresh tears.

'Come on Latias, I have got us some dinner in the garden. Allow Ash some room and come back tomorrow.' Latios telepathizes.

"Ok then" she snivels and transforms back into her true form before slowly leaving the room with her brother. Ash is left alone in the room. The orange glow slowly turns to black, plunging the room into darkness. Brock, Misty and Pikachu enter the room, all eerily quiet. Misty and Brock look towards Ash, hoping for him to wake up, yet all that is moving is the slight rise and fall in his chest. Pikachu jumps onto his bed and sits on his chest, looking sadly at his trainer. "Pika, Pika-chu", he says pushing his arms to wake him up.

"Why won't he wake up?" Misty asks, "He's been like this for two days now, how has he not recovered?"

"He has had to use a lot of his aura to bring Latios back to life. He is like a depleted battery at the moment, unable to do anything." They both look it him for a few minutes more before Brock says, "We can't do anything about it Misty, let's get some sleep and see how he is in the morning."

"You're right Brock" Misty sighs and picks up her clothes to go and get changed in the bathroom. She comes back and finds Brock and Pikachu asleep. She puts her stuff into her bag next to her bed and climbs in and swiftly falls asleep too.

In the secret garden, in a tree, Latias is crying quietly to herself so she doesn't wake her brother.

_'There is no-one in the world I would rather be with right now than you Ash. What will it take to get you to wake? I will try any method to wake you Ash, as long as it doesn't hurt you. Someone please help get Ash to come back to me.' _She pleas. Latias tries to stay awake, thinking of ways to wake Ash, but tiredness washes over her and she too, falls asleep.

The night grows on and the clouds move to reveal a glowing full moon. The moon's shine irradiates the whole of Altomare. In the pokemon centre, the glow shines through the cracks in the curtains. The wind blows softly, moving the curtains through the open window. The light in the room sways with the curtains, creating a rippling spear pointing toward Ash. The wind abruptly stops, and a small pokemon looks through the curtains with interest. She recognises the three companions sleeping in the room, but her focus was on one of them - the black haired one. _'Ash?' _the pokemon thought to herself. He had risked himself to save every pokemon when they met before. She had also saved him though when he was blown away by Mewtwo's psychic powers. Mew now knew why Latias had pleaded for someone to help him.

Mew moves over to his bed and closes her eyes. She then delves into his mind and searches for him. It was so dark in here, so full of death waiting to crush Ash. She flies onwards and soon finds a light in the distance. She picks up the pace and flies straight into the light. There she finds Ash, sitting there looking directly at Mew.

"What pokemon are you? How did you get here?"

Of course, Mewtwo wiped their minds clean before they left, so they don't remember a thing that happened.

'I am Mew. I am here to help you get home Ash.'

"How do you know my name?" Ash says, looking a little curious

'I think it would be better if I show you' Mew replies and pours her memories into Ash's. The events from New Island came rushing back to him. The bad weather and the treacherous journey. The starter battles and the pokemon caught and cloned. Saving Pikachu and making a comeback. Turning to stone and his resurrection. The whole incident causes Ash to cry out in pain.

"How can Mewtwo delete that from all our memories?" Ash gasps

'He was made to be stronger than me, and my psychic powers are more powerful than any other pokemon on the planet.'

"Oh." Ash replies astounded. "Why are you looking at me funny?"

'You seem … different somehow. No, it must be me imagining it. Now for the matter of getting you home.'

"What do you mean by going home? Aren't I fine where I am? I'm alive and in a good place here" Ash questions.

'What I meant is to get you back to Latias and your friends. You have been unconscious for two days now, and everyone's unsure as to whether you'll make it. Only Latias believes you will go back. It was her who cried out tonight for help. I couldn't bear to see her like she is so I came to help you get back.'

"All this time I've been sitting here for so long, I've forgotten what happened. How could I forget about Latias? I don't deserve someone as good as her," Ash says dejectedly.

'No-one is more fitting than you Ash. You've been fighting to stay alive for so long now, it's no surprise that you have forgotten about her briefly.'

"T-t-thanks M-mew," Ash sobs.

'Now, we need to get you back to her. I want you to start to think of her. Think of everything you love about her and it will push back this darkness. I will help by strengthening your thoughts.'

"This should be a piece of cake then" Ash grins.

'Then let us begin.' Ash closes his eyes and pictures Latias in his head. He thought of her soft feathers covering her body, red and white with a bit of blue on her chest. She treasures the blue on her chest as it is a symbol that reminds her of her brother. Her feathers are warm and soft maing them lovely to cuddle into. Ash then thinks of her personality. Latias has a cheeky personality as she always wants to play with someone. She also likes playing pranks on other people to entertain herself and others. She has cute laugh and always thinks of others before herself. Next was her eyes, the best part about her. They were golden and sparkled like the stars except they were always full of mischievousness. When Ash looks into them, he always thought she was looking deeper, past the surface of his skin and she would understand exactly what he was feeling and thinking. She was the most beautiful girl he had ever met.

All of his thoughts were expanding the white light and repelling the darkness of death. Mew wasn't even helping and yet the darkness was cowering as if it was a person in front of Groudon. Ash's love for Latias was pure and Mew could see that. Within 2 minutes, the darkness was completely dispelled and Ash was no longer in a coma – he was just sleeping now.

"Did it work?" Mew snaps out of her surprised trance and turns to Ash

'Yes it is. You will wake up soon. You really love Latias don't you? I've helped people before but none have done it without my help before.' Ash blushes at the comment

"Yeah, I started developing feelings for her when I left Altomare before, right after she kissed me. It is only recently I realised how much I love her."

'I need to go now Ash. If you ever need my help, shout my name in your mind and tell me what the problem is. I will always be listening.'

"Thank you Mew. It was nice seeing you again."

'It was nice seeing you too. Goodbye.' And Mew turns and flies out of Ash's dream. She sees him lay there and notices he is breathing at a regular rate. Mew smiles and leaves with a flutter of wind.

5 minutes later, Ash woke up. His body was tired and didn't want to move but he was fine otherwise. He lay there awake in his bed thinking about Mew and what she had said – 'You seem … different somehow' – _'What could it mean? How could I be … different?' _Ash shakes his head and decides to think about Latias instead - he wasn't going to work out what was different when he was tired. He would finally see Latias again, hear her beautiful coo, and look into those stunning golden eyes of hers. A light started to appear through the open curtains and he sees dawn approaching over the trees. He lies there waiting to see who would wake up first; his good pal Pikachu, woman-obsessed Brock or water gym leader Misty. It didn't take him long to find out as Pikachu yawns and opens his eyes.

"PIKA!" He cries and jumps onto his trainer's chest.

"Hahahaha, hey there buddy." Ash laughs, stroking Pikachu between the ears. This little commotion wakes up Misty and Brock.

"What's going on?" Misty asks drearily wiping sleep out of her eyes. She looks over to Ash and sees him awake "Ash, you're back with us!"

"Hey Misty. I'm fine now thanks."

"Ash!" Brock exclaims, "How are you? You've been unconscious for three days now".

"Like I said to Misty, I'm fine. I got some help finding my way home," Ash replies.

"Who helped you?" Misty asks curiously.

"A forgotten friend. I'm not sure she would want me to tell you, sorry."

"Oh, oh well, at least you're back. Everyone will be happy to hear." Misty says. Suddenly a loud rumble emits from Ash's stomach.

"God I'm hungry." Ash says, holding his stomach.

"Well at least your appetite hasn't changed" Brock laughs.

"Well I have been out cold for three days. I feel as if I could eat a Rapidash"

"I'll go and get you some breakfast" Brock says and exits the room.

"I'll go and wake the others up. I'm sure they'll be glad to see you" Misty says, following Brock. Ash was left alone lying with Pikachu on his chest, scratching his head, looking up at the ceiling with one thought going through his head – _'Thank you Latias, I owe everything to you.'_

* * *

**Ash is back with us! Hurray! Nearly a 2000 word chapter! Double Hurray! I have a few ideas already as to what is coming up in the next chapter but again, if there is anything you would like me to put into this fanfic, post a review, or if you want it to be private, PM me. Finally, thank you for the continued support, I really appreciate it, especially the criticisms as it makes my writing better and the story more enjoyable for you.**


	7. Power

This is chapter 7 in this story. Pokefan-93, I will try to work on it starting with a bit in this chapter and K. Bradshaw, you don't have to wait any longer. Now, on with the story.

"Speech"

'Telepathy'

_'Character thoughts'_

**"Poke speech"**

* * *

**Power**

Brock enters their room in the pokemon centre to see Ash gazing out the window. He places the tray of food down for Ash on his bed. He had asked Nurse Joy if he could use the kitchen for Ash's breakfast and she happily allowed him to. Once in there, Brock worked his magic and conjured a full English breakfast – bacon, beans, sausages, hash browns, fried bread, tomatoes and mushrooms with a mug of coffee and salt. He didn't forget Pikachu though, he put a bottle of ketchup with Ash's breakfast for him to devour.

"Hey Ash, here's your breakfast". Ash looks round and sees the food and he immediately runs over and starts to scoff it all, with Pikachu slurping the ketchup next to him. Brock goes and sits on Misty's bed watching Ash in silence. A few minutes later, Ash and Pikachu finish their breakfast and sit rubbing their stomachs.

"That was delicious Brock, one of your bests yet."

"Pika"

"I'm glad you like it Ash. You needed it after being asleep for three days."

"Hey, I need a good meal like that every day if I'm to become a pokemon master." Brock laughs at the remark,

"You could try and argue that but a lot of people would disagree. You get just as much food as everyone else does, no matter what your status is."

"No way. When I become a pokemon master, I'm gonna have ten rooms in a mansion all full of food."

"Pika?"

"Of course Pikachu, you will have one full of ketchup" Ash says scratching Pikachu between the ears

"Chaaa"

"Anyway, the others should be along soon. What do you want to do until then?" Brock asks. Ash looks down at the floor, remembering that he forgot all about Latias when he was deep inside himself, holding onto life. Mew tried to comfort him but he still feels bad about it and makes up his mind.

"I'm going to go and train my pokemon. I need to work hard for when I go on my next adventure and I'll need everyone in tip-top condition."

"But Ash, everyone will be coming back here to see you."

"Well, you can stay and bring them to the coast. I'll be training East of the docks."

"Ok Ash, just don't over work yourself."

"Brock, I'm the one training pokemon, not being trained."

"I know, but I also know what you're like and how you train with them."

"I suppose you're right. Don't worry, I'll be fine." Ash says and walks from the pokemon centre.

Meanwhile, Misty is walking to Lorenzo's house to tell them the good news. Togepi is asleep in her arms and so she doesn't run. She arrives at his house and knocks on the door. Bianca opens the door moments later and is surprised to see Misty.

"What are you doing here Misty? I thought you would want to stay with Ash?"

"Not anymore." Misty replies with a grin.

"Wait, don't tell me, he's awake isn't he."

"Yep, he's waiting at the pokemon centre having breakfast."

"This is great news!" Bianca runs into the house and up the stairs, "Lorenzo! Lorenzo! Ash is awake. We need to visit him with Latias and Latios as soon as possible!" Lorenzo's voice is sleepy as he answers,

"OK, just five more minutes then I'll go."

"No Lorenzo, it's Ash."

"What!? He's awake? We need to visit immediately to see if he's recovered properly." Lorenzo says, now fully awake. Misty hears them upstairs getting their stuff ready so she wonders around and enters Bianca's art room. Pinned around the walls were various drawings and paintings, all extremely detailed. Misty was in awe, she had never seen so much great artwork anyway in one place. There are a lot of Latias and Latios playing in the secret garden with each other and other pokemon. There are also some drawings of the museum exhibits and the trio of friends (Ash, Misty and Brock).

"Do you like them?" Bianca asks. Misty turns around surprised that she didn't hear her.

"They're beautiful, all of them. Do you have to look at an image and draw or can you visualise an image in your head?"

"Both. I have to because with all the pokemon moving. I have done some where they are all still but I prefer to let them do what they want and so I can capture and image in my head and then draw it. I can also create an image in my head. I don't always have to look at something, like this" Bianca answered picking up a picture of a farm with Miltank, Ponyta, Tauros and Mareep.

"It's amazing."

"Come on you two, no need to stop for art at the moment. We need to get to Ash." Lorenzo says.

"Lorenzo, we still need to get Latias and Latios from the garden".

"Oh, right. This way." Lorenzo says, leading Misty and Bianca out the back. They walk into the garden and into the shed at the bottom. "This is another secret passage to the garden of the Lati's. It's the one we used when Latias was feeling sick because it's the quickest way to get there." The three of them ran through the garden and came to the tree where the two Lati's were sleeping.

"Latias! Latios! Wake up!" Bianca shouted. It did the trick as both pokemon woke up with a start.

'Bianca, if you weren't my friend I would eat you right now.' Latios telepathizes, annoyed at being woken from his slumber.

"It's important. Ash has woken up and is in the pokemon centre."

'We must go immediately' Latias exclaims, overjoyed with the news.

"Come on then! You'll have to go invisible or human so no-one can see your true form though" Lorenzo tells the two of them. They both turn invisible and follow Misty, Lorenzo and Bianca to the pokemon centre. They run the whole way and burst through the pokemon centre doors. Nurse Joy is surprised by the commotion and was going to ask them to slow down but they were past her and running up the stairs before she could say anything. They burst through the door and to their surprise, there was only Brock sitting on his bed reading a cooking book.

"Brock, where's Ash?" Misty shouts

"He said he wanted to go out and train his pokemon ready for his next journey."

"You idiot! He's just recovered and you let him leave?" Misty exclaims. She pulls out her mallet and starts to hit Brock multiple times in the head with it. When she stops, Brock's head is buried in the wall, almost going into the room next door.

'Misty, we needed him conscious so we could find Ash' Latios states.

"Don't worry Latios; I've taken worse beatings then that. Follow me; Ash is at the coast near the docks." Brock replies.

They all leave the pokemon centre with Brock leading them. Latias is at the back of the group worried again about Ash. _'Why did you leave your bed Ash? You have only just recovered and should be resting. Please be fine and well.'_

While the commotion at the pokemon centre was happening, Ash had reached a spot East of the docks where he could train.

"Everyone, come on out! It's time to train!" Ash exclaims. Charizard, Cyndaquil, Phanpy, Snorlax and Bayleef all appear. Bayleef runs and tackles Ash to the ground and starts to rub her head against him. "Hello, Bayleef. I'm glad to see you too, but we need to train now. I'll play with you afterwards," Ash laughs. Bayleef clambers off of Ash and walks over to where the others are. "Ok then, Charizard and Snorlax, I want you two to work on the power of your moves ok. If we can add more power to your flamethrower Charizard, other fire type moves will be a piece of cake. Cyndaquil and Phanpy, I want you two to use flamethrower against rollout. This will enhance the power of your flamethrower Cyndaquil as you will be working to stop Phanpy's rollout. Phanpy, you are working on speed and both of you will be working on your evasion. Finally, we have Pikachu and Bayleef. You will be working on countering each other's moves and this in turn should help you to be more accurate by finding a way through the opponents counter. Ok everyone, off to work." The six pokemon all split into their pairs and started to duel.

Ash walks away from them to avoid getting in the way. He watches them all fight it out. Snorlax and Charizard are not only testing their power, but the length of time they can keep their respective moves running. Ash sees the determination on both their faces, neither backing down as they both want to last the longest. Eventually, they both break off their attacks as it ends in a draw. Charizard allows for Snorlax to recover after his hyper beam and they attack again. Cyndaquil and Phanpy are more fearsome. Two small pokemon attacking and dodging one another with extreme speed (not the move). Phanpy is zigzagging around making it near impossible for Cyndaquil to hit him. Cyndaquil was also doing a god job dodging Phanpy's rollout, by dodging at the last second, making it hard for Phanpy to change direction. He also uses his flamethrower to jump into the air too. Ash was impressed by Cyndaquil's thinking. He turns to the last two – Pikachu and Bayleef. They both knew how to counter each move that was fired. Thunder and thunderbolt was countered by razor leaf, body slam and tackle was countered by a quick attack dodge and vine whip was countered by Pikachu's iron tail.

"Hey, Ash!" Ash snapped out of his trance and turned to see Brock calling his name. Ash smiled and ran towards the group.

"Hey guys, how are you all?"

"Ash! If you hadn't just recovered I would hit you with my mallet for being an idiot and leaving the pokemon centre!" Misty screams.

"I just needed some air and I thought I would train my pokemon while I'm at it" Ash replied innocently.

"Well it's good to see your back" Bianca smiles. Seeing her reminds him of Latias.

"Where's Latias?" Ash asks just to get knocked to the ground as Latias tackles him from the side. He laughs, glad that Latias is back with him.

'I've missed you so much Ash' Latias telepathizes.

"I've missed you to Latias"

'Let him up sister. Remember, he has just recovered.' Latios tells her.

'Sorry. I got carried away.' Latias replies, blushing a little.

"How are you feeling Ash?" Lorenzo pipes up.

"I feel great. I haven't had any problems since I've been awake".

"I think we should still take you to the pokemon centre to make absolutely sure you're fine."

'I agree' Latios says, 'Taking in part of a pokemon's aura can be dangerous and may have long term consequences.'

"Fine, I'll go back then." Ash sighs. He recalls five of his pokemon after complimenting them on their training and Pikachu jumps onto his shoulder. As they walk away, Latias holds Ash's hand and he smiles and blushes. They follow Brock away from the docks and into the maze of Altomare. They have only been walking for seven minutes when Ash doubled over in pain and collapsed onto the ground.

'ASH!' Latias screams.

"We need to get him to the pokemon centre now!" Lorenzo shouts. Latias picks him but Lorenzo stops her. "You can't take him. It'll be strange seeing a floating boy heading toward the pokemon centre. Let Brock take him".

"Why me?" Brock whines.

"Because us girls can't carry him and grandpa is too old to carry him" Bianca replied.

"Fine" Brock sighs in defeat. He lifts the young trainer onto his shoulder and starts to run toward the pokemon centre. Ash was moaning in pain and then he screamed. "Hold on Ash, we're nearly there." They run into the pokemon centre and spot Nurse Joy. Brock drops Ash, head first onto the floor and runs over to her. "Hello my blooming flower of beauty. Your eyes sparkle like sapphires in the glistening sunlight and when we are married I will AAARRRGGGHH! My ear! Misty, let go!" Brock cries.

"Not until you are out of sight of Nurse Joy lover boy" Misty replies annoyed.

"Nurse Joy, we need your help" Lorenzo says, attracting Nurse Joy's attention. "This is the boy who was unconscious for three days, he's just recovered and is now in extreme pain"

"Right. Chansey, I need a stretcher for this boy immediately. Don't worry, he's in safe hands." Two Chansey's pushing a stretcher and they lift Ash onto it and cart him away. Lorenzo, Bianca, Latias, Pikachu and Latios all follow them. Ash is taken into a room and is lifted onto the bed. He is still moaning in pain.

_'Please be Ok Ash. I can't live without you. I need you by my side.'_ Latias cries to herself. The five of them watch helplessly as Ash is scanned in ache.

"How vexing." Nurse Joy says to herself, "He's fine in every way. What is wrong with him?" She stands thinking of the impossible possibilities that could be happening. She and Chansey leave the room and turn to the Bianca and Lorenzo. "I have no idea what is wrong with him. The scan shows him being perfectly fine but he is still in a lot of pain." All of them are shocked. They turn to face the window looking into Ash's room. He is breathing heavily and sweat is forming on his head. All seven of them watch, helpless to do anything for Ash as he lies clutching his stomach. Then, inexplicably, his face relaxes and he moves his hands from his stomach. His breathing returns to normal and he opens his eyes. The door opens and Nurse Joy rushes in and checks him over with various bits of equipment.

"You are fine. You can go and meet your friends." Nurse Joy tells Ash after ten minutes. He gets up off the bed a little shakily. He stands and walks out to his friends. They all look at him stunned.

"What just happened Ash?" Bianca questions, breaking the silence.

"I'm not sure. I just had a massive pain course through my body. It was like a wave of glass was washing through my body – sharp pains everywhere and unrelenting."

**"Well at least your fine Ash" **Pikachu says.

"Yeah, I'm fine buddy, wait. I just understood you Pikachu. How can I understand you?"

'I believe the answer lies with us' Latios says turning visible with his sister as Nurse Joy had left.

"What do you mean?" Ash asks confused.

'When we passed our aura to you, you gained some us.'

"So I'll turn into one of you two then?" Ash queries.

'No. You won't turn into one of us. However, you will gain some of our powers. As we can understand poke speech, you can now understand it.'

"Wow. That's pretty cool I guess."

'There's more. You will also have gained our pokemon characteristics. This means that you have a higher stamina, strength, speed and sight compared to a normal human.'

"This is getting cooler by the second. Can I fly?"

'I'm not sure about that. You're pokemon characteristics will develop over time, so we'll have to wait and see.'

"Well after that shock, I think we should go and find Brock and Misty to tell them the new news." Latios and Latias both turn invisible and they leave the pokemon centre to meet up with Brock and Misty.

* * *

Thanks again for all the continued support. After Ferosininja's comment, I thought I would change the story line a little because I do agree that there are a lot. UltimateCCC gave me the idea with his review so I would like to thank the both of you for your input. Finally, if there is anything you want to see in this fanfiction, write a review or pm.


	8. Leaving Altomare

**Sorry for the delay but had some induction days at some schools and haven't had the time to update. None-the-less, here is the next instalment and I hope you enjoy it.**

"speech"

'telepathy'

_'thoughts'_

**"pokespeech"**

* * *

**Leaving Altomare**

Latias and Latios fly over the city, searching for Misty and Brock while Lorenzo, Ash and Bianca sit outside the pokemon centre for news of where the two were.

"Where do you think Misty dragged Brock off to?" Bianca queries

"Knowing Misty, as far away from Nurse Joy as possible. Brock is a great friend to have and a brilliant chef but he is also a massive paedophile." Ash replies.

**"So true"** Pikachu agrees.

'I have found them.' Latios says, 'they are at the docks where Ash was training. We'll meet up there.'

"Let's get going then" Ash says. The group walk towards the docks and reach Misty, Brock and the invisible Latias and Latios. Latias flies over to Ash and tackles him to the ground. "I wasn't gone for long Latias" he laughs.

'I know, but I prefer to be near to you.'

"Well I'm here now". The group then move into a nearby alleyway so Latias and Latios don't have to stay invisible. Latias transforms into her human form and stands next to Ash. He puts his arm around her, holding her close to him. They stare into each other's eyes and move their heads together slowly. Before their lips could touch, Misty asks,

"Is there something you two aren't telling us?" Ash and Latias look up to see four shocked faces and Bianca smiling back at them.

"Hehehe, well when we returned here after the Silver Conference, Latias wasn't acting like she did the first time we came. Bianca and Lorenzo asked me to try and get the old Latias back. I did this through love. I kissed Latias and she kissed me back, we confessed our love for each other once we told Bianca and Lorenzo that Latias was back. Since then, we have tried to keep it a secret."

"Are you sure you want to go down this path you two? All recorded pokemon-human relationships has ended in the pokemon killing the human because either the human found someone else who was human or the pokemon didn't think the human was worthy to have them." Lorenzo states.

'Our relationship won't be like those. Our love for each other is stronger than anyone else's has or will be.' Latias replies, looking back at Ash.

"I agree with Latias. There is nothing we wouldn't do for each other."

'As there is no law against the two of you being together, I am happy for you. The only thing I will say is Ash, if you break my sister's heart, there is nothing on Earth that will stop me from breaking yours – literally.'

"Don't worry Latios, I would never dream of doing such a thing. Latias means more to me than life." Ash replies calmly.

"Although you two will get strange looks from other people and may be called names because of your relationship, I too have no problems with your decision." Lorenzo says.

**"Way to go Ash. I never thought you would have girlfriend this soon." **Pikachu says.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

**"Erm…Never mind."**

"Fine, don't tell me." Ash grumbles.

"Who are you talking to Ash?" Misty asks.

"Oh right, you weren't there. Can someone else explain as I was in a lot of pain and didn't register what was happening around me."

"Don't worry Ash, I'll tell them." Bianca says, "Ash was lifted onto a stretcher and was pushed into a room with an observation window. Ash was in a lot of pain but nothing was wrong with him when Nurse Joy performed many different tests on him. All we could do was wait. Then after some time, all the pain seemed to leave Ash's body. Nurse Joy checked him over and he was perfectly fine, just like he was when he was in pain. No-one knew what had happened but then Ash could understand what Pikachu was saying and Latios explained that Ash will develop abilities like him and Latias because some of their aura was given to Ash so he could live."

"Wow," a stunned Misty replies.

"I agree and also think that you should go home and see your mum. After all, you did say you would visit her after the Silver Conference finished." Brock says.

"You're right! I need to find when the next boat leaves for Vermilion City!" Ash exclaims and starts to run towards the docks. Everyone follows ,struggling to keep up, and they get to the information office in a couple of minutes. "Please can you tell me when the next boat to Vermilion City is?"

"Of course." The man at the desk says. He checks the timetable on his computer and replies "There is one leaving tomorrow at 8:30am."

"Great, thanks."

"Well as we have the rest of today left, what should we do?" Misty asks.

"It's 8 o'clock now and we none of us have had anything to eat since breakfast. Why don't we go back to the pokemon centre and get some food before getting some sleep?" Brock says looking at his watch.

"Great idea Brock, but instead of the pokemon centre, why don't you all come to my house instead. There is plenty of room for you all to stay the night too." Lorenzo replies.

**"Well what are we waiting for?" **Pikachu questions.

"I agree. I'm starving! Let's go!" Ash cries and dashes off into the city before anyone could say anything.

"Does he know he's going the wrong way?"

'Don't worry Lorenzo. You take everyone to your house. I'll catch up to him and lead him there.' Latias says.

"Thank you Latias. No wasting time though otherwise all the food will be gone."

'Don't worry. I don't think anything will stop Ash until he has some food' Latias says as she runs off after Ash.

'Should I keep an eye on them?'

"No Latios. Let them be. They're together now and don't need someone else continually watching over them. Let's go and meet them at my house." The group turn and walk along the sea front to Lorenzo's house.

Meanwhile, Latias has lost Ash in the city's maze. Since Ash has gained part of her and Latios' aura, he now had more stamina and was faster than when he first visited. She decides to transform back into her true form in an alleyway and search for him invisibly. She flies up above the buildings, scouting the paths below. It doesn't take her long to find him sitting by a fountain talking to Pikachu. She flies down and listens to their conversation.

"It's not my fault we're lost."

**"Yes it is, you are the one carrying me."**

"But you didn't tell me that we were going the wrong way!"

**"That's because I thought you knew where you were going."**

"When have I ever known where to go?"

**"Fair point, but if you don't know where you were going, why did you run off from everyone?"**

"It was you who asked what are we waiting for and that made me think with my stomach and not with my head."

**"Okay, let's split the blame 50-50."**

"Deal. However we're still lost." Ash said gloomly. Latias laughs to herself and says,

'No you're not.' Ash and Pikachu jump at the new voice and fall back into the fountain.

"Not funny Latias." Ash grumbles.

'Well after you ran off, I tried to keep up but with our aura in you, it was harder to stay with you so I had to turn invisible and fly to find you. I'm here now so let me guide you back to Lorenzo's.'

"Great! Food, here I come!" Ash says, forgetting about being annoyed at Latias. The three of them walk and fly to Lorenzo's house. They arrived fifteen minutes later to find the rest of the gang finishing up with their first portion of food. Brock and Lorenzo had cooked up a massive feast that could feed double the number of people there. Latias reverted to her human form and joined Ash in piling food onto her plate. Once they had finished, the all went upstairs to bed. Misty and Bianca slept in Bianca's room. Lorenzo slept in his room, Brock slept in one spare room and Ash and Latias slept in the fourth. Latios went back to the secret garden to sleep.

The morning came swiftly and Lorenzo was up first. He looked at the time and saw that it was 7o'clock. He went around waking everyone up and when he got to Ash and Latias' room, he saw that Ash had his arm around Latias' back, holding her close to his body. He decided to leave the couple and walked out the room, planning to wake them later. He didn't need to wake them as a little after he left the room, Latias woke up. She felt Ash's arm around her back and snuggled closer to him. After staying like that for fifteen minutes, Ash wakes up.

"Good morning beautiful" Ash says, making Latias blush.

**"Morning handsome."**

"Today we go and visit my mum."

**"I can't wait to meet her."**

"Why's that?"

**"Because I can thank her for bringing you into this world and give the chance for us to meet."** Now it was Ash's turn to blush.

"How long until the boat leaves?"

**"In an hour."**

"Let's get some breakfast then and go down to the docks then." Latias got up and went into the bathroom to get changed as Ash used the bedroom. Ash walks over to Pikachu, who was sleeping on the floor and nudges him awake.

**"It's too early to wake up." **Pikachu complains.

"I agree, but we need to be up early to catch the boat home."

**"Oh yeah!" **Pikachu exclaims, jumping up to his feet.

"Come on, let's go get some breakfast Ash and Pikachu" Latias says as she exits the bathroom. The three of them all go down stairs and see everyone else already tucking into breakfast.

"Hey, leave some for us!" Ash cries and runs to the table where there is bread, jams and cereal.

Once they have all finished breakfast, they leave for the docks. They arrive ten minutes before they have to leave.

"Well I guess we'll be seeing you all later then."

"Actually Ash, I was thinking, could I come with you, Misty, Latias and Brock?" Bianca asks.

"Er…. Sure, why not? Lorenzo, you have no problems with this, right?"

"Bianca is old enough to decide what she wants to do with her life now. If she wants to go, I have no reason why she shouldn't go."

'I would like to go too' Latias says.

"But Latias, who will look after Altomare?" Brock asks.

'The DMA has been deactivated and as long as I'm alive, Altomare will stay safe.'

"What about you Lorenzo? Do you want to join us?"

"No Misty." Lorenzo laughs, "I'm too old for adventures. Plus I have a museum to run."

"Oh, okay. Well we better be going now." Misty says.

"Goodbye Lorenzo." Bianca says, pulling her grandfather into a tight hug.

"Goodbye darling."

'See you Lorenzo and thank you for watching over Altomare with us.'

"It's been my pleasure Latios. Just keep my granddaughter safe."

'I will.' The group of seven turned and walked onto the boat. They all stay portside and wave to Lorenzo, even if Latios couldn't be seen, as the boat leaves the docks. The group move to the stern of the ship and watch as Altomare gets smaller and smaller in the distance.

"Home, here I come!" Ash exclaims as they walk inside they boat.

* * *

**Thank you for your patience and starting from next week, I will try and post two chapters a week to make up for the time lost during my inductions. Also, anything you want to see, don't hesitate to tell me.**


	9. Journey

**Here is the next chapter and I hope you enjoy.**

"Speech"

'telepathy'

_'character thoughts'_

**"poke speech"**

* * *

**Journey**

The sun is shining brightly in the cloudless sky and the seven friends are all relaxing on the deck of the ship. Misty was trying to tan, Brock was reading a book on breeding and Bianca was drawing.

"Why are boat journey's so boring?" Ash complains.

'They're not that boring. You just need to find the entertainment' Latias replies, sitting next to him in her human form.

"It's a boat. There is no entertainment."

"Stop your complaining Ash. That's all you ever seem to do on boat journeys" Misty says angrily.

"All I really want is a pokemon battle. Then I'll be fine for the rest of the journey."

"OK, how about we have a battle then Ash?"

"Really?" Misty nods her head, "Great! You're going down Misty."

"I am a gym leader Ash, it won't be easy." The two of them walked to opposite sides of the stern and picked a poke ball each.

"Misty has water type pokemon so I'll choose you, Bayleef!" Ash cries, releasing his Bayleef. Bayleef, like usual, turns round and tackles Ash to the ground.

**"Ash!"** She cries.

"Hello Bayleef. Come on, we're here to battle." Bayleef lets Ash up and turns to face Misty.

"Come on out, Corsola!" Misty calls as she throws her poke ball. The 2ft coral pokemon bursts out of his ball.

"Now there's a couple of pathetic pokemon if I've ever seen any, hey Charles" a voice says, causing Ash and Misty to look round and find two guys watching them.

"I know what you mean Dave, they don't look like they can handle a Caterpie between them" The second man says.

The man called Dave had short brown hair and a rough looking face with stubble along his chin. He had muscles bulging from his arms and an eight pack showing beneath his top. Charles was smarter looking with green hair falling to his shoulders and a smooth face. His eyes looked sharp as if he didn't miss a single detail and his clothes were a grey suit.

"What do you mean? Our pokemon are stronger than you think!" Ash shouts.

"Really? I see you're prepared for a battle, so let's make this a double battle." Charles replies.

"You're on!" Misty and Corsola stand next to Ash and Bayleef, facing their new opponents.

"Kadabra, out you come." Charles says.

"Machamp, come one out!" Dave calls

**"Go on Bayleef and Corsola, don't let two amateurs beat you!"** Pikachu cries.

'Come on Ash, I know you can do it!' Latias shouts.

"We'll let you have the first move" Charles says confidently.

"If that's what you want, Bayleef, use razor leaf on Machamp!" Bayleef swings her head and releases a barrage of sharp leaves that hit Machamp dead in the chest.

"Machamp, use close combat to block those leaves!"

**"Got it"** Machamp replies before his arms become a blur, blocking all of the leaves with his four arms.

"Corsola, use bubblebeam on Kadabra!" Corsola breathes in heavily before releasing a stream of bubbles at Kadabra.

"Psychic" Charles calls.

**"Too easy" **Kadabra says as he stops the bubbles in their path.

"Fire them back at Corsola"

"Corsola, use spike cannon to counter." The bubbles and spikes collide and cause an explosion clouding part of the battle field.

"Machamp, use cross chop!"

**"Get here you stupid grass type"** Machamp cries as his fists glow white.

"Bayleef, use vine whip to jump and use body slam!"

**"You got it Ash"** Bayleef answers, dodging the incoming machamp and slamming down on his back.

**"Get off me you puny pokemon!"** The Machamp struggles.

"Now use vine whip Bayleef!"

**"Take this!"** Bayleef cries as her vines continually whip the Machamp.

"Get out of there Machamp!" Dave shouts.

"Kadabra use psybeam" A peculiar ray fires from the Kadabra's spoon and hits Misty's Corsola head on.

"Corsola!" Misty cries, "Are you OK?"

**"Urgh. I'm fine Misty."** Corsola moans, nodding.

"Good, then use recover"

"Don't let that happen Kadabra, use psychic!"

"Bayleef, forget Machamp and help Corsola by using razor leaf on Kadabra!"

**"This Machamp isn't worth the trouble." **Bayleef says, jumping off the weakened Machamp and fires the sharpened leaves at Kadabra. The attack hits Kadabra and sends him flying backwards and allowing Corsola to recover most of her energy.

"Come on Kadabra, get up" Charles says. His Kadabra climbs to his feet, shaking slightly.

"You too Machamp!" Dave pleas, seeing Macham struggle on his knees.

"Let's finish this Misty."

"You got it Ash"

"Bayleef, use vine whip to hold them"

"Corsola, use spike cannon"

"Get out of there!" Dave and Charles cry. Their pokemon are caught by the vine whip as they are too weak to move. The spike cannon then smash into both pokemon, causing another explosion and smoke. When the smoke clears, both pokemon have swirls in their eyes, showing they've fainted.

"Good work Bayleef." Ash says, stroking Bayleef.

**"Thanks Ash, no problem with those amatuers."** Bayleef replies before being sucked into her poke ball.

"You too Corsola. You were brilliant."

**"Thanks Misty." **Also sucked into his poke ball.

"I guess we owe you two an apology." Charles says, walking over to the two, "You are a lot stronger than you look."

"Thanks, you're not too bad yourself." Ash replies.

"You are most kind. Thank you for the battle, I still have a bit to learn in double battles as you have shown me."

"Everyone has something new to learn in battles," Misty replies, "I'm gym leader of Cerulean city and I so I see new battle techniques when I'm there all the time."

"If I had known that before now, I would have thought before I challenged you."

"I'm not the only strong one here, Ash placed in the top eight in the Silver Conference."

"Really?! Well, this is a shock." Charles replies, stunned, "Once again, thank you for the battle. I will be going now. I need to find Charles." He says, looking round and seeing his partner missing.

"Ok, see you" Misty and Ash reply as Charles walks inside.

_'That was an eventful battle.'_ Latios says, _'You are both impressive battlers'_

_'Of course is an amazing battler.'_ Latias says, turning visible and cuddling Ash, _'I love it when you battle, you look even more handsome if that's possible'_

"Thanks Latias and Latios." Ash says, blushing.

"It makes me want to battle too" Bianca says, "It looks so thrilling"

"Well when we get to Pallet town, we can ask Oak if you can get your own starter pokemon."

"Yeah, good idea Ash"

"Before we get there, we should grab some dinner. It'll be getting dark soon." Brock says. Ash's stomach growls,

"Yeah, I've just realised I'm starving." Everyone laughs and Latias transforms into her human form and walks inside with the rest. Latios, being invisible goes to the kitchen window and levitates food out of the window for himself when no-one is looking. The group enter the restaurant and sit at a table. A waiter arrives and asks for their order.

"Can I have a King Prawn soup please" Brock says.

"I would like a Chicken Salad please," Bianca says.

"And what would you're twin like?" The waiter asks Bianca, referring to Latias.

_'Can I have the Fish Sushi'_ Latias tells Bianca

"She would like the Fish Sushi." Bianca says. The waiter looks at them weirdly, wondering why Latias didn't answer. He is distracted though by Ash saying,

"I would like two Lasagne's please and a bottle of ketchup for Pikachu"

"Ok, your dinner will take a while, please be patient." The waiter says and leaves. The group don't have to wait long and soon they are all tucking in to a good meal. Once they've finished, they all go back to their cabins. Bianca and Misty have one, Brock has another and Ash, Latias and Pikachu have a third where they meet with Latios who is now visible.

"What did you sneak out of the kitchen Latios?" Ash asks.

_'I had a lot of different meats that were smothered with barbecue sauce.'_

"Sounds tasty. Talking of food makes me want more now."

**"Ash, all you ever think about is pokemon battles and food"** Pikachu says.

"You're wrong Pikachu, I think about Latias as well, more than battling and food."

_'Yeah Pikachu, how could you forget'_ Latias says, giving Pikachu a telepathic slap to the head.

**"Ow, sorry."** Is all Pikachu could reply with.

"So Latios, where will you sleep?"

_'I'll sleep on top of the boat. I prefer to be outside when I sleep, plus I found a spot where I don't have to be invisible while I sleep.'_

**"What if it rains?"** Pikachu questions.

_'Then I'll go into Brock's room. I don't think the girls or you two would appreciate it if I came and slept in your rooms. I don't think Brock would mind too much.'_

"Well as long as you have a place to sleep, I think we should go to sleep." Ash says. Latios nods his head and goes to the door, turns invisible and exits. Ash changes clothes and Latias turns into her true form. They both lie down on the bed and cuddle together with Pikachu at the foot of the bed. Latias senses some discomfort coming from Ash.

_'Are you OK Ash?'_

"I'm just nervous of meeting my mum with you. I don't know how she'll react."

_'I'm sure she'll be fine. Has she ever disagreed with any of your decisions before?'_

"Yeah but she has never been angry as such."

_'Then I'm sure there won't be a problem with this when we meet her'_

"You're right Latias. I don't know what I was thinking." Ash replies, feeling happier.

_'You being nervous is understandable Ash.'_ Latias says. She then kisses Ash. Their lips stay locked for a few minutes, tongues entering each other's mouth, exploring the inside.

Meanwhile, in Bianca and Misty's room, they are talking about getting a new pokemon.

"I can't wait to see what pokemon Oak could give me. Which did Ash pick?"

"He didn't. He woke up late the morning he was meant to get his starter and all that was left was Pikachu."

"Typical Ash I suppose. The two of them must have gotten on very well from the start then."

"Actually, it was the complete opposite. Pikachu hated Ash and Ash was frustrated with Pikachu.2

"How did it all change?"

"Ash throw a stone in frustration and it hit a Spearow, a bird pokemon who seems to hate everything and everyone that isn't in its evolutionary chain. This Spearow called for its flock and they chased Ash who was carrying his injured Pikachu. Eventually, they fell off my bike which they took in their rush and the Spearow were upon them. Ash laid Pikachu on the ground and stood in front of him to protect him. Pikachu respected Ash for doing this and they were friends ever since. They had some tough times, but they always pull through."

"Wow, who would have guessed? I hope my pokemon won't be like that."

"Don't worry, Pikachu hated basically everyone. I'm sure your pokemon won't hate you."

"Thanks Misty, I'm sure you're right. What was your first pokemon?"

"Mine? It was my eighth birthday and my family thought it was time I got my first pokemon and start to train to be a gym leader. I remember clearly that I woke up and went to the pool where I usually swam in the morning. I dived in and started to swim when a Staryu swam towards me. I couldn't believe there was a pokemon out and in the pool. She started to swim around, seemingly dancing, so I danced with it. We were in the pool for about half an hour when my dad came in and told me that this Staryu was mine. He had caught it a few days earlier and told me she was keen to meet me. That was the happiest day of my life."

"That's so cool. How's she doing now?"

"She's now my second strongest pokemon and now a Starmie."

"Wow. You two have got to be extremely close."

"You're right. Whenever I was in a tight situation in a gym battle, I always used her because I knew she was a hard battler and wouldn't give up easily. I also released her when I was feeling down as she would always cheer me up."

"Hearing these stories makes me want a pokemon even more now."

"For now we need to sleep. In the morning, we'll be near Vermilion city."

"I don't think I'll be able to with the thought of a pokemon in my mind." Bianca says excitedly. She and Misty then try and sleep, as the moon light shines brightly. On top of the boat, Latios is lying, watching the sky and watching over the ship. He keeps his mind open, listening for any of his friends in case they want to talk. When he feels they're all asleep, he too, drifts off as the boat glides on towards Kanto.

* * *

**Thank you for all your reviews and support and anymore tips on my writing is appreciated.**


	10. Home

"Speech"

'telepathy'

_'character thoughts'_

**"poke speech"**

* * *

**Home**

The sun rises as the ship nears the docks of Vermilion city. Latias wakes up and feels Ash lying on her wing, his hand holding hers. Latias smiles to herself and kisses Ash on the cheek.

'Good morning Latias. Did you have a nice sleep?' Latios asks.

'I had Ash next to me and you looking over me, how could I not?' Latias replies.

'I see the docks so you should wake everyone up and get ready to leave.'

'Ok, I'll see you outside in ten minutes.' Latias cuts the connection between her and her brother and turns her attention to Ash. She mentally nudges him until he stirs.

"It's too early to wake up, give me a couple more hours." Ash moans.

'We're nearing Vermilion City and need to get breakfast as well.' Hearing breakfast, Ash shot up and jumped out of bed, almost pulling Latias with him and knocking a startled Pikachu to the floor.

"Come on then, let's go!" He exclaims, pulling on his shirt.

**"Hey Ash, what's the big idea?"** Pikachu cries.

'Calm down Ash.' Latias says levitating over to him and kisses him on the lips.

**"Get a room you two." **Pikachu says teasingly. Their lips stay locked for a minute as they both loved each other's embrace. They pull apart and Latias says,

'Come on, let's wake the others up.' The two of them go to one room each, Ash and Pikachu waking Brock and Latias waking Bianca and Misty. When everyone is awake, they all go to the restaurant and get some breakfast.

After they have finished their breakfast, they all go out to the bow of the ship, Latias in her human form, as they start to enter the docks.

"It's good to be back in Kanto" Ash says.

"I concur. I can't wait to see my sister's again." Misty agrees, nodding her head.

'It won't be long now until we get to Pallet town.' Latios says, levitating invisibly next to them.

"It'll still take a few days before we reach it though." Brock replies.

'Not if we fly.'

"Are you sure you want to do that Latios? You and Latias will have to reveal yourself to everyone." Bianca asks concerned.

'Don't worry Bianca. We'll get out of the city first and then you can get on our backs before we fly through the clouds. That way, no-one will see us. If they do, they won't be able to find us in the clouds if they have any flying types.'

"Well if you're sure." Bianca replies, still not fully convinced.

"If we fly to Pallet, we won't pass Cerulean city or Pewter City to check up on mine and Brock's family." Misty says.

"Don't worry Misty, we'll visit them after a few days in Pallet.

"I suppose you're right." The boat comes to a rest and the group head for the exit. When they step on dry land, they see a familiar man striding towards them. He had spiky blond hair, a hard face and wearing clothes that shows he was in the army.

"Hey, Lt Surge!" Ash calls.

"Huh? Would you look at that. It's the baby." Lt Surge replies.

"I'm not a baby anymore Surge. I came in the top sixteen in the Silver Conference."

"Just because you have a girlfriend, doesn't mean you're not a baby. Plus you still haven't evolved your Pikachu." Surge tuts, "If you want a pokemon that will win a battle, you need to evolve it."

"I still beat you didn't I?"

"You got lucky kid. I could beat you still."

"Let's have a battle then. One v one, my Pikachu v your Raichu."

"Ok but I'll warn you now, my Raichu is a lot stronger than before."

"And I'll warn you, so is my Pikachu, isn't that right buddy."

**"Hell yeah."** Pikachu replies, pumped and ready for a fight.

'Are you sure about this Ash?' Latias asks, 'We should be travelling to Pallet.'

"It's fine Latias. Pikachu and I beat these two once, we can do it again." The group walk to the gym and walk out to the battle field. Ash and Lt Surge take their places at one end of the field each, Pikachu on the battlefield. The rest of the group stand by a wall on one side of the building.

"If you want Surge, I'll referee the battle." Brock says.

"Thanks Brock. Now let's get this battle started! Go Raichu!" Surge shouts. His Raichu bursts from the ball and lands heavily, causing some dust to rise from the ground.

**"Oh, it's you."** The Raichu says with disgust in her voice. **"I'm glad I get to fight you again. We have a score to settle."**

**"I agree, but can you keep up with me yet?"** Pikachu smiles.

"Let the battle commence." Brock says.

"Pikachu, use agility."

"Raichu, use thunder."

**"Time for you to feel the pain again little brother."** The Raichu cries and releases a powerful thunder.

**"I can't feel pain if you can't hit me."** Pikachu taunts as he uses agility to dodge around the edge of the battlefield.

"Pikachu, use quick attack!"

"Raichu, use thunderpunch!" Pikachu closes the gap between them and slams against the Raichu's stomach, pushing her back a bit. She then clenches her fist, focusing the electrical energy and hits Pikachu straight in the gut, lifting Pikachu high into the air.

"Pikachu!" Ash cries.

"Now Raichu, use thunder."

**"Take this!"** Raichu cries, unleashing a devasting thunder.

"Pikachu, use thunder too."

**"I'll never lose to an electric type move!"** Pikachu shouts back, unleashing his own thunder. The two moves collide in the air causing an explosion, throwing both pokemon back.

"Pikachu!" Ash cries, seeing his pokemon thrown back by the explosion.

"Raichu, don't let up and use mega punch!" Surge shouts. The Raichu charges out of the smoke with white fists charging straight for Pikachu.

"Pikachu, dodge them!" Pikachu jumps up and starts to back up while dodging the onslaught of mega punches that Raichu is firing. "Now, retaliate with thunder!"

**"Still too slow to hit me Raichu."** Pikachu taunts before releasing a devastating thunder attack.

"Dodge it Raichu!" Surge hollers. Raichu tries to move out of the way but because she was close to Pikachu, she couldn't dodge quickly enough getting the full blast of electrical power released by Pikachu.

"Great work Pikachu! Follow up with a double edge!"

**"Game over Raichu."** Pikachu says, slamming into the Raichu. The Raichu is thrown backwards, sliding across the ground fainted.

"No, Raichu!" Surge cries.

"Raichu is unable to battle. The winner is Pikachu and Ash." Brock says.

"I think that shows that I am better than you." Ash says, walking over to Surge.

"Yeah, I underestimated you Ash. I thought with all the training Raichu has done, we wouldn't lose this time. It shows that you have trained hard too."

"I've had to. I've been traveling the Johto region."

"I'll just have to get a bit stronger then. When will you next be in Vermilion?"

"I don't know. I'm going home for a while and I don't know what I'll do after that."

"Well the next time you're in town, pop into my gym and we'll have another battle."

"You got it Lt Surge." Ash says as they shake hands. He then walks over to the rest of the group. Latias runs to him, hugging him.

'You did it Ash!" she squeals.

"hehehe, of course I did. Pikachu and I won't lose to another electric type, especially Pikachu's evolved form, right buddy." Ash replies as they leave the gym.

**"Of course, I like to think I'm the strongest electric type there is."**

"We should be moving now. Let's head to Pallet. We've wasted enough time as it is."

"You're right Brock, let's go." The group head to the north of the city to route 6. They leave the city and find a secluded spot where Latias changes to her true form and Latios becomes visible.

'Misty and Bianca, you go on Latias, Ash and Brock, you get on me.' Latios tells them.

"You sure you can carry them all the way Latias?" Ash asks concerned.

'Of course I can Ash. They're not that heavy'

"Ok but if you need to rest, say and we'll stop straight away. I don't want you to hurt yourself."

'I'm fine Ash, you don't need to worry.' Bianca and Misty then climb on her back, 'You should get on Latios so we can get going.' Ash walks over to and climbs onto Latios' back. The group then lift off the ground and fly into the clouds. It takes them most of the day to get to Route 1, just outside of Pallet town by flying in a south-westerly direction. The land in a small forest area so Latios can turn invisible again and Latias can turn back into her human form. Ash, Latias and Pikachu lead the way with the other four behind them.

"I much prefer your true form." Ash says to Latias.

'Thank you.' Latias replies blushing slightly, 'May I ask why?'

"Because it's who you really are, not a façade. I prefer true beauty."

'Awww that's really sweet of you' Latias says, blushing so her cheeks are nearly as red as her feathers. She holds Ash's hand as they continue to walk to Pallet.

"Those two are really cute together." Bianca says, watching the two in front.

'They certainly have good relationship' Latios agrees.

"I'm just wondering what Delia will think of Ash having a girlfriend, and if they tell her, what she'll think of him being in love with a pokemon." Misty says concerned.

"Don't worry Misty. Delia's a very calm lady and I'm sure she'll be pleased for him."

"I don't know Brock, she can be quite odd at times and I don't know if that side of her will cause a problem."

'I highly doubt that she will disapprove of Ash's relationship with my sister. If she wants what is best for him, she should let him chose who he wants to be with.'

"Yeah, you're right. I shouldn't worry." Misty says a bit happier.

"It's only right you were worried. You have some feelings for Ash yourself." Brock replies, only to get a mallet in the face.

"No I don't!" Misty shouts, "He's too immature."

"Whatever you say Misty." Brock says, somehow recovered from the mallet. Misty looks at Ash and thinks to herself. '_Did she really have some feelings for him? Why was she so protective of him?'_ She dismissed the thought and put it down to being with him too long. The group exit the trees and walk into Pallet. The locals all wave to Ash and the group, congratulating Ash on his achievements. They walk to Ash's house and knock on the door.

"Just coming!" A voice rings out from the inside. The door opens after a couple of seconds and Delia stands in the doorway with a shocked look on her face. "Ash? Is that really you?"

"Of course it is mum. I wouldn't be anyone else." Ash replies, hugging his mum tightly.

"Oh, it really is you. You're finally home. I was wondering when you would get home."

"I took a detour on the way home to see some of my friends again." Ash says, gesturing to Bianca and Latias.

"Well at least you're here now. Come inside and relax. I'll get Mimey to put the kettle on." They all head into the garden and sit around a table.

"I have some news that I need to tell you." Ash says nervously.

"What is it darling?"

"When I first went to Altomare, a pokemon called Latios sacrificed himself to save the city. When I returned, there was a way to revive him. So Bianca, Latios' sister and I all did a sort of ritual to bring him back to life. We managed to do it but I had depleted nearly all of my aura and could barely live. As thanks, Latios and Latias gave me part of their aura to keep me alive. This meant I was unconscious for a few days and when I recovered, I could understand Pikachu."

"What? How can this happen?" Delia replies shocked.

"The aura that the two pokemon gave me passed some of their powers onto me. Furthermore, I can develop more than just pokespeech."

"This is astonishing. Professor Oak would love to know about this."

"I'll head over to his lab later but my second bit of news is that I'm in love."

"Oh my little boy is growing up. Who is it?" Latias stood up and walked over to Ash.

"This is her." Ash says.

"What a beautiful girl. What's your name?"

"She's a mute mum."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know."

'Don't worry Delia. I'm a psychic so I can use telepathy.'

"Oh my, that is a shock."

'My name is Sakura. I was named after Cherry Blossom.'

"That's a lovely name. Are you two twins?" Delia asks Bianca.

"Yes we are. I'm Bianca, nice to meet you."

"Why did you pick Sakura over Bianca Ash? After all, they are identical twins."

"There is something more to Sakura than meets the eye." Ash replies as he looks at Latias smiling. At this point, Mimey brings out the teapot and some cups and the group all take a cup each. The group chat until the tea is all gone and then they head up to Oak's lab.

'What type of pokemon do you have Ash?' Latios queries.

"I have manly some lower evolution pokemon but I do have few stronger looking pokemon too." They head to the Corral to find Ash's pokemon. All of Ash's pokemon are playing together in an area away from the rest of the pokemon. Pikachu jumps off of Ash's shoulder and runs towards the group of pokemon.

**"Hey guys! We're back!"** All the pokemon turned their heads and saw their trainer walking towards them. They all charged forward towards him with the exception of the Tauros, who were running in another area, and Muk who was probably hugging Oak.

"Hey guys! How've you all been?" Ash asks, getting a reply of general happiness. "Everyone come on out!" Ash cries, throwing his poke balls into the air. Out of the pokeballs came Phanpy, Bayleef, Charizard, Cyndaquil and Snorlax. "I would like you to meet some new friends. This is Latias. Yes, she is a legendary pokemon. She's in her human disguise at the moment. She is also my girlfriend." Ash says, taking hold of Latias' hand. Bayleef was distraught. She had loved him first. She has known him longer and yet he doesn't return her feelings for her even though she has expressed them many of times. She collapses on the ground, crying silently to herself at the back of the group.

"My second friend is Latias' brother, Latios." Ash says as Latios becomes visible.

'Hello everyone, it's nice to meet you all.' Apart from Pikachu and Bayleef, all the pokemon were in awe as they've never seen Latios before. However, before any of the pokemon could say anything, a voice is heard.

"Ash! How on earth have you gotten yourself a Latios?" Ash turns round to see Professor Oak running towards him.

"Hi Professor, how have you been?"

"I'm fine Ash, but you haven't answered my question."

"He's not mine. He's a friend."

"Oh my, your amazing." Oak says, marvelling Latios. "I've heard that your feathers have some special qualities. Can I have one to study?"

'No, I don't mind you studying them but I don't want to risk your findings being used for other uses so I cannot allow you to take them.'

"Oh wow, you can talk using telepathy. This is amazing. Can I study you then?"

'I will not be used as a lab experiment. If you bring up research and me again, I'll knock you unconscious for a few days.'

"Sorry. I guess I got a bit too excited. I'm sorry almighty Latios, I'll go back to my lab now." Oak says, walking away dejectedly.

"Hey. Professor. I have a friend who would like a pokemon to start her journey with us. Can you give her a pokemon?"

"Of course Ash. I even have the starter pokemon from Johto as I wanted to do a bit more research on them."

"That's awesome. You should let my pokemon meet them, they'll get along fine." Ash says walking with Oak towards the lab.

"That's a nice thing to say Ash, I'll keep it in mind." The two of them walk into the lab and see Misty, Brock, Bianca and Tracey talking when suddenly a purple slime creature appears and hugs Ash.

"Hello Muk. I've forgotten how much you like to hug."

**"I hug Oak all the time; it's funny."**

"Oh well at least it's not me." Oak says. "It's Bianca isn't it? Ash has told me that you want your first pokemon."

"Yeah, I'm really excited. What are the starters here in Kanto?"

"You're in luck because I don't only have the Kanto starters but also the Johto starters as I am studying them a little bit more."

"Oh wow. This is so cool." Bianca says excitedly. Professor Oak walks over to a table with two cases on them.

"Here are the pokemon. First of all is the grass type pokemon, Bulbasaur the seed pokemon. Next is the fire type starter, Charmander the lizard pokemon. The final Kanto starter is the water type, Squirtle, the tiny turtle pokemon." Oak explains releasing all three of the pokemon.

"They all look very friendly. I'm not sure which one I want."

"There are also the other three. There is Chikorita, the leaf pokemon. Then there's Cyndaquil, the fire mouse pokemon and finally Totodile the big jaw pokemon." Oak says, releasing the three pokemon.

"Chikorita and Cyndqaui are quite cute." Bianca says, looking between the two pokemon. "I think I'll pick…."

* * *

**As promised, this is my second update in a week and will do the same next week so you can all enjoy more of the story.**


	11. Birthday

**Hello everyone, just a quick intro – Sakura = Latias in her human form, Latias = Latias.**

"Speech"

'telepathy'

_'character thoughts'_

**"poke speech"**

* * *

**Birthday**

"I pick…. Cyndaquil" Bianca says as she picks up the small fire type pokemon. The fire mouse pokemon snuggles against Bianca's chest, showing his thanks for being picked.

"Cyndaquil seems to like you." Ash notices.

"I like you too little guy."

"Now you have your first pokemon, I have a few things to give you. First is a pokedex – this tells you all you need to know about any pokemon. And second of all are these five pokeballs. You use these to catch wild pokemon but you first need to battle and weaken the opponent first or it won't work." Oak tells Bianca. "If you're going with Ash, he'll help you with anything you need."

"Of course I will. If you want to know anything, just ask me or the legendries." Ash replies, smiling.

"Thank you. I think I'll take Cyndaquil to see your pokemon in the Corral Ash. I'll meet up with you later."

"Sure thing. I need to talk to Oak about some things. Misty, Brock why don't you two go with Bianca?" Ash replies.

"Ok Ash. We'll meet you out by your pokemon later." Brock says as they all exit the lab.

"Ash, what is it that you wanted to talk about?" Oak queries.

"When I was in Altomare, I had to help resurrect Latios and in doing so, I gained some of his and Latias' abilities. I was wondering if you had any knowledge of this happening before or when more abilities will develop."

"My, what a shock. I haven't heard of anything happening before and I will have to run a few tests to see if I can determine when your other abilities will develop, if there are any others."

"Let's get started then." Oak leads Ash to a different room, away from the main area where there is a table and some equipment around the outsides of the room. The professor walks over to a machine that sticks out from the wall a little with a circular tube leading into it.

"Please can you lie on the table." Ash walks over and lays down on the table. Oak walks over to the controls and starts up the machine. "This machine is like an MRI scanner but has been altered slightly to pick up any differences in a normal brain pattern. This will help me determine if your brain is still developing and approximately when your next ability will happen."

"Right. Does it hurt?"

"No, however it is very loud inside the machine."

"Do you have any earplugs?"

"I'm afraid not. It shouldn't last too long and it won't damage your hearing so you'll be fine." Oak pushed a few more buttons and the table slides into the machine. Once Ash was in there, Oak then flipped a switch and started up the machine. In the machine, Ash was laying with his eyes closed, trying to take his mind off the sound, emanating from the machine. He was thinking about where he would go next. _'Should I go and take Bianca, Latias and Latios around the Kanto gyms? Or mayber the Johto gyms? Or maybe somewhere new for the both of us? Then there's who to take with me. Obviously Pikachu and I think I should take Charizard as a strong back up for any situation. The I think I should take little Phanpy, he'll like to come along for an adventure. Bayleef is another trusty and hard fighter too.'_ The machine's sound was dying down and Ash opened his eyes again, now anticipating what Oak will tell him. The table started to retract from the machine and Ash saw Oak looking on a screen across the room.

"Come and take a look at this Ash."

"Have you found anything interesting?" Ash asks as he gets off the table and walks over to the screen.

"Indeed. If you look at the screen, you will see two different pictures of brain scans. The one on the right is a normal looking scan." Oak says. The one on the right shows of a grey scan which moves around with the amount of brain activity and also shows no signs of any mutations or deformities. "The one on the left is yours." This shows a slight colouring at the bottom of the brain.

"Why is there a slight colour change there, professor?"

"If I show you the base of your brain, it will show even more." Oak moves the image so they are now looking at the bottom of the brain. This shows that the Temporal lobe, Brain stem and Cerebellum have all become lit up.

"Why is it showing this?" Ash asks, scared.

"This is where the mutation is taking place. These are the places that have been affected by the passing of Latias and Latios' aura. As you can see, it sometimes has a stronger purple colour than other times. The stronger the purple, the closer you are to developing another ability. As you can see, the Temporal lobe is a stronger purple than the other sections. This section helps with understanding language, hence why you can talk to pokemon. My next guess is that your next ability will come in two days and will be because of your Cerebellum."

"What does that control?"

"Balance and muscle coordination."

"I wonder what could change?"

"I don't really know. I'll keep looking into it and try to keep you updated."

"Thanks Professor. I'm going to meet up with Latias and the others in the Corral."

"I'll see you later then."

"Will do Professor. Thank you for doing this."

"No problem Ash, it is a new discovery. I should be thanking you."

Ash leaves the lab and walks over to the Corral thinking to himself. _"Should I tell everyone or wait until a few more abilities have developed first?'_ Was the main thought running through his head. His thoughts were interrupted by a pokemon flying towards him and bundling him to the ground.

"Hey beautiful." Ash says as he realises it's Latias.

'How was it in there?'

"It was fine. I think I'll tell all of you at once instead of repeating myself." The two of them kiss briefly and get up. They walk/fly over to the rest of the group, holding hands all the while.

"Hey Ash, how did it go?" Misty asks.

"It was fine. I found out that the bottom half of my brain is the area being affected by the passing of aura and my next ability will develop in about two days. However, I don't know what it will be."

'No need to worry about it Ash. We'll just have to keep an eye out on what you do or don't do.' Latios says.

"Thanks Latios. How's your Cyndaquil getting on Bianca?"

"Your pokemon and him are getting on fine. I've drawn a few pictures of them all playing together and we were thinking of getting some dinner now."

"Good idea, I'm starving." Ash replies.

"We'll definitely know if your appetite changes with the amount of food you consume." Brock laughs. The group all head inside with Pikachu and Cyndaquil, to get some food at Ash's house. Once they've eaten, they all head off to bed or the sofas. Latios again goes outside and watches over the house on the roof.

The next morning, Ash wakes up to find only himself in the room. Both Latias and Pikachu were gone. He decided they must have allowed him extra sleep for once. He gets out of bed, gets dressed and walks downstairs. _'Strange'_ he thinks, _'There's no-one here.'_ He walks all around the house looking for anyone but finds no-one, not even Mimey. _'I'll grab some breakfast and go to Oak's lab to see if everyone's there.'_ He walks into the kitchen and grabs a box of cereal, a bowl and some milk and helps himself to four portions. Ash then leaves the house and walks towards the lab. When he gets there, all the lights are off on the inside. _'There seems to be one strange thing after another at the moment. The lights are never turned off.'_ He walks to the door and opens it,

"Surprise!" Everyone shouts at once, startling the young trainer.

"What's going on?" Ash asks.

"I told you he wouldn't remember with everything that's going on" Misty says, "It's your birthday Ash."

"Really? Wow. Who knew that it would come some fast?"

'Happy birthday Ash' Sakura says, pulling him into a kiss. When they separate, Ash replies,

"That's the best birthday gift ever" causing Sakura to blush. For the rest of the morning, Ash had everyone from Pallet town giving him presents and wishing him a happy birthday. He leaves his presents in Oak's lab as they all move outside into the garden next to the Corral. There are more than a dozen tables all with food on and a lot of tables with umbrellas for conversations out of the sun's heat. Ash had found a table and sat down at it with Sakura, Misty, Bianca, Pikachu and Brock. Latios didn't like big crowds so he went and sat on top of the lab, watching everyone below.

"You're so stupid Ash, forgetting your own birthday." Misty says.

"I've had so much going on, I didn't notice the date."

"Sounds like nothing has changed then" a voice said. Ash turns round and sees Gary standing behind him with his Umbreon at his side.

**"I'm out of here" **Pikachu says into Ash's ear before he jumps off the table and runs away from the Umbreon.

"Hey Gary, how have you been?" Ash says, standing up and offering a handshake to his former rival.

"I've been fine. I came back from the Silver Conference and got sent to Seafoam Island for my first bit of research."

"Cool, how is it out there?"

"Slightly cold in the caves since that's where Articuno is said to rest but I was sent to gather some more information on Seel and Dewgong."

"Did you manage to see Articuno there at all?"

"No and nor did I expect to. Articuno, like most legendaries, don't like to show themselves as it means that people will try and capture them."

"I know what you mean." Ash replies, looking towards Sakura. Gary notices his glance and looks at Sakura too.

"Is this your girlfriend Ash?"

"Yes she is."

"Wow, I always thought it would have been Misty."

"WHY DOES EVERYONE SAY THAT!" Misty cries, her face turning red.

"Sorry Misty, it's just what I expected."

"This is Sakura. I met her and her twin Bianca in Altomare, a little water city."

"Nice to meet the both of you. Now Ash, as it's your birthday I have a gift for you, but first I want to have one last battle before I become a full time professor."

"Sure thing Gary. There's a spot around the side of the lab that is free for us to battle."

"I'll meet you there." Gary replies, turning and walking away with his Umbreon at his side. Ash turns back to the group.

"I believe Gary is going to use his Umbreon." Brock says. "You've never been able to beat his Umbreon Ash, it has so much skill on the battlefield."

"I know, but this time will be different. All I need to do is find Pikachu."

"Pikachu!" Misty cries incredulously, "He's the only pokemon to face Gary's Umbreon and he's always lost."

"I know, but we've trained really hard and the Silver Conference proves that. I believe he can do it."

'I believe in you Ash. Pikachu is on his way, I just contacted him through telepathy.'

"Thanks Latias." Ash stands up and looks for his little yellow friend.

**"Why do you hate me so much Ash?"** Ash turns around and sees Pikachu on the table.

"I don't hate you. I believe we can win this time."

**"You have no idea what I'm talking about do you Ash."** Pikachu says slapping his paw onto his face. Ash looked at his pokemon quizzically.

"Let's just get this over with Pikachu." Ash says, holding his arm out for his pokemon to jump on. The two of them jog off to the lab with the others walking along behind.

'Do you know why Pikachu is acting like that?'

"Like what Latias?" Bianca asks.

'He's really nervous and doesn't like the idea of fighting of Gary's Umbreon.'

"Well he has lost every fight against her." Misty replies, "I would be nervous about fighting that Umbreon if I had those stats against me"

'It's not that. It's something else but his emotions aren't telling my anything.'

"Well let's just hurry up and get to the battle before they start. Maybe you'll find out something why we're there"

'Good idea Bianca. Let's hurry' Latias says, running to try and catch up with Ash. The group get there as the two battlers are getting ready to battle.

"A one on one sounds good to me Gary. Pikachu, I choose you." Ash cries.

"I was hoping my last battle would be a victory, go on Umbreon, you've beaten him before and you can do it again." Gary replies as his Umbreon bounds onto the makeshift battlefield. "I'll let the birthday boy get the first move."

"Ok Pikachu, start off with a thunder!"

**"This will hurt" **Pikachu states.

"Use quick attack to dodge Umbreon."

**"You won't be able to hit me."**

"Pikachu, you use quick attack too."

**"Really Ash? Ok."** The two pokemon race around the arena clashing together and being flung back every time they collide.

"Umbreon, use shadow ball."

"Counter with thunder Pikachu."

"Change to psychic and send that thunder back at Pikachu."

**"Oh crud" **Pikachu cries as he releases his powerful electric attack.

**"That's right."** Umbreon replies with a grin, her eyes glowing blue. The thunder froze and then turns

and streaks straight back at Pikachu.

"Quick attack Pikachu, dodge and run towards Umbreon."

**"Thanks because I had no idea what to do"** Pikachu says as he sprints off towards Umbreon.

"Umbreon, forget the Psychic and use shadow ball again."

**"This is a fun battle"** Umbreon says as she fires a volley of shadow balls at Pikachu. The group

watching the battle were amazed. They are watching a battle between two trainers with a lot of skill

and from their home town.

'Ash is very good'

"Yeah, I wonder if I'll be that good one day" Bianca answers.

'Of course you will Bianca. You have a good connection with any pokemon you come across. This will

help with when it comes to trust in a battle.'

"You're right. I can't wait to get going on an adventure"

'Me neither. I can't wait to see the world and to do it with Ash is a dream come true.' Bianca smiles to herself as they turn their attention back to the battle. Both pokemon had sustained some serious damage.

"Come on Pikachu, let's attack fast and first with a quick attack."

"No you don't Ash, Umbreon, you use quick attack too."

**"This is the final straw Pikachu."**

**"Sure is Umbreon and I'm not holding back like before."** Umbreon looks at Pikachu a little confused which slows her down enough to make Pikachu's attack the more powerful out of the two and as they collided, dust covered the field, obscuring everyone's view. When the dust cleared, Pikachu was panting heavily and Umbreon was on the floor, fainted.

"Yeah, we won Pikachu!" Ash exclaims.

**"Umbreon….Umbreon? Are you Ok?"** Pikachu asks, nudging the moonlight pokemon.

**"Urgh"** The Umbreon groans.

**"Looks like I beat you"** Pikachu grins.

**"Yeah, you did. You said you let me win before, why?"**

**"Because I did."**

**"I know that, but why did you let me win?"** Pikachu just blushes and rubs the back of his head.

**"Don't worry Umbreon, you need rest. I'm going back to Ash."**

**"But…"** Is all Umbreon could say as Pikachu ran back to his trainer.

"You did a great job Umbreon." Gary says to his pokemon. Umbreon looks up to him and nudges his leg. "It's ok, you did me proud, even if you did lose to Pikachu for the first time." Umbreon just looks towards Pikachu as he hugs his trainer. _'Could it be that he…. No, surely not.'_

"Well done Ash. Let me take you to your present." Gary says with a smile.

"Thanks Gary, it was a great battle." Ash says as his friends come over. Sakura hugs him and kisses him on the cheek.

'That was a great battle Ash'

"Thanks Sakura."

"I didn't hear her speak, yet you know what she said." Gary asks looking at the two with a confused look.

"I forgot to tell you, Sakura is a mute but telepathic so she speaks to us via her thoughts."

"Oh, that makes sense." The group walk into the lab. Gary leads them to his newly appointed room for his own research and studies. "Go in Ash." Gary says smiling. Ash opens the door and to his surprise, he sees an Eevee lying asleep on the table.

"Is this….?" Ash asks.

"Yep, he's yours now."

"Gary, you shouldn't have. How did you get this little fella?" Ash asks walking over to the table.

"She's my Umbreon's son. She gave birth a few months before the Silver Conference. I would've used her in the Conference but she needed to look after her five children. When I came back after the competition, I looked on the calendar and saw it was your birthday soon so I asked Umbreon if one of the pups could be your present which she agreed with."

"Thanks Gary." Ash says, stroking the resting Eevee. "Is it a boy or girl?"

"He's a boy." The Eevee then yawns and stretches his body as he wakes. He looks rounds and sees Ash stroking him.

"Hey there Eevee. I'm Ash, your new trainer." Ash sasy with a smile. Eevee looks back at Ash and says,

**"Ash? Trainer?"**

"We're going to be great friends."

**"Friends?"** The Eevee asks. He then jumps into Ash's arms, **"Ash! Trainer! Friend!"** and hugs his body against Ash's.

'He's adorable.'Sakura says, 'and he likes you a lot.'

"I like him too. I feel like we'll be great friends and a better team."

"We should go back to the main area." Misty says, breaking their attention from the Eevee. "Your mum and Oak are the only ones left and they were thinking of doing your presents"

"Right. Do you want to go in a pokeball Eevee or do you want to go on my other shoulder?" The Eevee looked up at Ash and jumped up onto his shoulder, licking his face. The group laugh and walk to the main area where there are presents laid out on a table. Ash unwraps his presents and gets various gifts like some new clothes, repels, a thunder stone and more. He eventually gets to the presents of his friends that were with him. The first one was from Oak.

"Please can I have your pokedex Ash."

"Sure professor, but why do you want it?"

"I was thinking the other day as to where your next adventure should be and as you lost to a hoenn pokemon, I was thinking you could go there and see more pokemon for yourself. I need your pokedex to upgrade it to include the hoenn pokemon."

"Thanks professor!"

"Now, a present from Pikachu." Delia says, passing the gift to Ash.

"I wonder what this could be?" Ash says, as he unwraps a ketchup bottle. "Only you Pikachu."

**"Of course Ash, you'll have to share it with me."** Pikachu says smiling, causing Ash to laugh.

"Who's next?"

"Misty, would you like to give him his." Delia says. Misty picks her present from the table and passes it over to him. He unwraps the gift and sees a lot of water items inside. There was a water stone, wave mail, a mystic water, lure balls and a dozen water gems.

"Thanks Misty." Ash says, happy with the water based gifts. _'Some of these will be good for Totodile. Maybe I should bring him along after this.'_

"Now Brocks." Brock points to his gift on the table. Ash picks it up and when he opens it, he finds a guide to pokemon adventures. Ash laughs at this as he is known for being forgetful.

"Thanks Brock, this will definitely come in handy."

"Here's mine Ash. I drew this earlier while the party was on." Tracy says. Ash takes the drawing and see most of his pokemon in the Corral all cheering with a banner held by Charizard on one side and Snorlax on the other saying 'Happy Birthday'.

"This is amazing Tracy. Thanks."

"Finally, it is my present." Delia says as she hands him a case. Ash opens it up and is amazed at what is inside; there are six pokeballs of different types. The first was a shiny black ball with a red ring around the top and a gold rim around the opening of the ball – luxury ball. Next there was one with a heart on it – a love ball. Thirdly was an all white ball with a red line where the ball opens – a premier ball. The fourth ball had green circles with black outlining them – a dusk ball. Next was a blue topped ball with two red stripes along the top – a great ball. Finally, there was a light pink ball with two cream stripes down the front – a heal ball.

"Wow mum. I never would have thought that I would have so many different types of pokeballs with me." Ash says stunned and overjoyed.

"Well with your new adventure coming quickly, I thought I would buy you the perfect gift for it." Ash runs to his mum and hugs her, causing his two pokemon to fall off his shoulders.

"Even though you embarrass me whenever I see you, you're still the best mum in the whole world." He turns to his two pokemon on the floor. "Sorry guys. Eevee, how about you come in one of these balls." Eevee nods his head, so Ash picks out the luxury ball and Eevee tapped his nose on the ball and was sucked in. Once the ball had shaken three times, the ball pinged to show that the pokemon was caught.

"I caught an Eevee." Ash exclaims.

**"Yeah!" **Pikachu cries, jumping up beside Ash. Everyone else sweat drops as they watch Ash.

'Do you have to do that Ash?' Sakura asks.

"Of course. I've done it ever since I caught my first pokemon and I'm not going to give it up."

"So Ash, who are you going to take to Hoenn with you?" Gary asks.

"Good question. I was thinking of Pikachu obviously, the Eevee you gave me and Totodile so I can use the gifts Misty got me."

"That's three, you can have three more if you want." Oak states.

"I was thinking of Charizard as a powerhouse that could help out in any tought situations. I'm thinking of Phanpy too, so the little guy can get some more experience. Finally, I was also thinking of taking Cyndaquil so Bianca's Chikorita has a pokemon from home."

"That's a great idea. It'll help your group as a whole bond together that way."

"I just need to go and get them now. Thanks for all the presents you guys." Ash says, hugging or hand shaking everyone, before running out to the Corral with Pikachu and Sakura. He gets there and sees all of his pokemon laying down in a group, talking about the recent adventures.

**"It was a lot of fun I have to admit, but I'm wondering who Ash will take on his next adventure and when it is."** Charizard says.

"How about I tell you all then." Ash says, startling his friends.

**"Ash!" ** A few of them cry as he is swamped by his pokemon.

"Hahahahaha, let me up guys so I can tell you the news." Ash laughs. His pokemon oblige and make room for him and Sakura to sit. Sakura looks back towards the lab and notices all the lights off except in the main area where the blinds and curtains were shut, so she changed to her true form and rests her head on Ash's shoulder. Pikachu jumps off Ash's other shoulder and sits with the rest of the pokemon. "Before I start, I have been given a new pokemon as a birthday gift. Everyone say hello to Eevee." Ash says, releasing the young pokemon from his ball. The Eevee shakes his head and looks around. "Eevee, these are my pokemon and friends."

**"Hello."** Eevee says to the group nervously.

**"Hello."** His other pokemon chorused back.

"Now, I'm going to be leaving tomorrow to start a new adventure in Hoenn. I know I haven't been here long but I'm also helping Bianca with her new pokemon experience and she seems eager to get going. And because I'm leaving, I need a team with me. You already know that Pikachu is coming with me and for the others, I am taking Eevee and Phanpy, so I can bond with you two, Cyndaquil and Totodile so you can help with Bianca's new Cyndaquil, and Charizard because I need someone who can take hits but also deal harder ones." There were groans and moans from those that weren't picked. "I'm sorry guys, but next time I'm home, I'll stay for a full month and I'll see all of you every day." This brightened their spirits. Ash then recalled those he was taking and said goodnight to the rest as he and Latias walked back towards his house.

"You might want to turn into your human form or invisible in case someone from the village sees you."

'I don't want to.' Latias replies, 'I want to spend the night in my true form with my true love'. Ash blushes as he pulls her into a kiss.

"Then that's what we'll do then." Ash says smiling and the two of them walk to his house to sleep.

* * *

**I'm not sure about two chapters this week but a will definitely get two again next week. Thanks for all the reviews and I hope you have enjoyed the latest chapter.**


	12. Re-visiting

**This is Chapter 12 and I feel like answering reviews as a lot of other people seem to do it.**

**BlueInfernoX – The new Eevee is not Pikachu's and Umbreon's kid, Umbreon didn't know about Pikachu's feelings.**

**Dawn Ketchum Fan – I'm debating whether to do it. I'm still unsure if I will or not.**

**Exodus Shadow – Thanks a lot. It means a lot.**

**ZDragonswrath – Yes but considering that Latios turns into a soul dew, I thought 'if he turned back, would that have an effect?' Hence my follow on story.**

**Now on with the story.**

"Speech"

'telepathy'

**"Pokespeech"**

_'Character thoughts'_

* * *

**Re-visiting**

The following morning, the group wake to the sound of Pidgey's chirping. As usual, the group all grab some breakfast and then pack up for the journey ahead.

"I can't wait!" Bianca squeals to Misty.

"You sure are eager."

"Of course I am. I'm going on my very first adventure."

"Before we head off to the Hoenn region, we are going to Pewter city and Cerulean city so Brock and I can check up on our gyms."

"That's fine. I get to see what different types of gyms look like depending on the type of the gym leader." Bianca replies, grinning all the while.

"There isn't much to expect to be honest. A water gym has a water battlefield, a rock gym has a rock terrain, grass gyms have a field and so on."

"I know that, but every gym has something that signifies it as that town's gym. That something is what I want to find out."

"I suppose you could say that. For now we should focus on packing and meeting the others downstairs, although Ash most probably won't be ready anyway." Misty says causing Bianca to laugh. In Ash's room, their prediction was correct – Ash had no clue what to take with him.

"I have clothes and a bag. I have pokeballs and pokemon. I have some snacks. What else will I need?" Ash questions to Pikachu and Sakura.

**"How about that bottle of ketchup?"**

"Only you would focus on ketchup." Ash grins, shaking his head.

'You won't need a lot Ash. As long as we're together we'll be fine' Sakura says, hugging Ash from behind and putting her head on his shoulder. Ash turns his head so he's looking at Latias and replies with,

"You're right, but I do need to take stuff so the others don't think I'm slacking."

'If they are mad at you, they'll make me mad, and they won't want to see me mad.'

"Well I guess I don't have to worry about anything." Ash laughs.

**"Hang on." **Pikachu says, **"I thought the male in a relationship was meant to look out for and protect the female, not the other way round."**

'Does that explain why you said those things to Umbreon then Pikachu?' Sakura smirks.

"What things?"

**"Nothing, right Sakura."** Pikachu glares at Sakura.

'Oh, I think that you losing to Gary's Umbreon on purpose is a great way to look out for and protect her from harm. It's quite cute actually.'

**"SAKURA!"**

"Oh really? Well maybe you should go and see Umbreon before we leave. Maybe ask her to come along with us under Bianca?"

**"No! She doesn't know that I like her. I don't want to talk about it, especially after our battle."**

'Considering that you said to her that you let her win and then checking to see if she was fine after the battle, I think she has a good idea that you like her.'

"Just go and talk to her, even if it doesn't include asking her to come."

**"Fine."** Pikachu grumbles as he jumps off the bed and leaves the house in search of Umbreon.

"I was so engrossed in the battle, I didn't hear what the two of them were saying most of the time." Ash says, looking at the doorway where Pikachu just exited from, "But he has a point and I feel that I should be the one looking after you and not the other way around."

'Your next ability should come today according to Oak's prediction and then you'll be one step closer to being able to protect me fully.'

"I completely forgot about that with my birthday happening. I wonder what it'll be?"

'We'll hopefully find out later. You should continue packing or we'll be late.'

"Yeah but I need to give Pikachu some time to talk to Umbreon though so I still have a while." Ash replies, picking up his gifts from Misty and putting them in the side pocket of his bag. Ash continues packing his bag and finishes just as Misty knocks on the door.

"You ready Ash and Sakura?"

"I've just finished." Ash say triumphantly, "Although Pikachu went off to talk to someone so we still need to wait for him to come back."

"The rest of us are out in the garden with some of our pokemon, so come on down and get some of yours out."

"I'll be right there." Misty leaves, closely followed by Latias and Ash. The three walk outside to see Bianca's Cyndaquil, Misty's Psyduck and Togepi (I can't believe I forgot about him!) all playing with each other, while Bianca had her sketchbook out and was drawing the three of them.

"Come on out Eevee and Cyndaquil!" Ash cries, as his pokeballs burst open, allowing his pokemon out. The group play for roughly ten minutes until Pikachu arrives.

"So how'd it go buddy?" Ash asks

**"She was stunned at first, then kissed me. Then I asked if she wanted to come and she couldn't make up her mind so I let here think on it."**

'But we're leaving now' Sakura says confused.

**"But we'll be in Kanto for a few days and if she wants to come she has a day or two to get to us before we leave for Hoenn."**

"Well I hope she changes her mind for your sake."

**"Thanks Ash."** Pikachu says before jumping onto his trainer's shoulder. **"Let's get going then."**

"Ok you two, return." Ash says holding out two pokeballs. Cyndaquil goes back without a fuss but Eevee dodges out the way of the beam. "Come on Eevee, it's time to go back into your ball." Ash says, trying again. Eevee dodges again and says,

**"I want to ride on your shoulder with you for a while."**

"We will be flying so are you sure you still want to stay out?"

**"Yeah."** Eevee nods eagerly,** "I've never been flying before."**

"Ok then, let's get outside Pallet before we fly off. You with us Latios?"

'I'm above you and ready to go.' Latios replies. The group say goodbye to Delia and head off. They leave Pallet and get to the same forest area from when they arrived and Latios becomes visible and Sakura turns into Latias. The girls climb onto Latias and the boys onto Latios and they head off to Pewter city.

"How long do you think we'll be in Pewter Brock?" Ash asks.

"Not long. I need to see if Forrest and my other siblings are keeping up the good work in the gym and then we can get going again."

"That means we'll get to Cerulean by the afternoon."

**"Oh great"** Pikachu says sarcastically.

'What's your problem Pikachu?' Latios asks.

**"They're just so… so … vain when it comes to their beauty. Plus they can be quite mean to Misty at times"**

"I know what you mean. They are a little bit strange in that sense."

"But they can't beat me in a pokemon battle." Misty cries smugly.

"That is true. He there's Pewter!" In between the clouds, the city could be seen a few miles ahead. The group fly down into the trees of Route 2 and climb off the Lati's backs. Latios immediately turns invisible as Latias runs over to Ash, turning into Sakura again. The two of them kiss before holding hands and walking to Pewter with the rest following.

**"Why did you two kiss?"** Eevee asks.

"Because we love each other." Ash replies.

**"Love?"**

**"Yes, love. When one person or pokemon has strong feelings for another person or pokemon, they are experiencing love. If both share the feelings and know about it, they become boyfriend/girlfried."**

**"So you two are boyfriend/girlfriend?"**

'Indeed we are little one.'

The group walk in silence the rest of the way to the gym. Brock enters first,

"Hello!" Brock shouts. The group walk further into the dark gym, looking for any sign of Brock's siblings.

"Brock? Is that you?" A voice calls out.

"It is him." A female voice says.

"But he never said he was coming." A third voice says. The lights then turn on and in front of the group stand all of Brock's younger siblings. The children smile and swamp Brock, welcoming him back.

"You were meant to call us Brock."

"I forgot Forrest, sorry. However I'm not staying long. I just came to see if you're holding up the gym's reputation."

"He's been doing an excellent job of it." Suzie says.

"Yeah, the only battles he's lost is the one to Nurse Joy and to about three other trainers who still struggled to win." Tommy exclaims.

"That's great news, but I hope you aren't hard on them as it is a gym leader's responsibility to help trainer's get stronger and to learn from their msitakes."

"I do Brock. Everything you've taught me, I've put into action." Forrest says smiling.

"Good. I am leaving with my friends to the Hoenn region. That's also where Nurse Joy's Latias comes from." Brock says gesturing to his friends.

"Wow, you'll have to tell us if you ever meet one and maybe you could catch one too!"

"Maybe." Brock replies, looking toward Sakura with a knowing smile. "We best be going now. Tell mum and dad I said high and sorry I couldn't stay for longer."

"We will Brock. Have a safe trip." Forrest says, sticking out his hand.

"Of course, I always do." Brock replies shaking the hand, "And I'll spend more time with all of you when I get back."

"YAY!" The siblings cry as they swamp Brock with another round of hugs. The siblings let go of Brock and wave him goodbye from the gym doors with the group waving back to them.

"I remember when I went to your gym the second time, Brock. You're siblings helped show me that I can only earn a badge as long as I earn it in a fair battle against a gym leader."

"Yet three of your first four badges were given out of gratitude." Laughs Misty.

"I could've won all of them, but twice Team Rocket interfered and the other was because I had an advantage and decided to not to carry on with the battle after Brock showed me the same kindness." Ash replies.

"And that's why I gave you the badge. You did deserve it Ash."

"Thanks Brock." The group walk out of Pewter to Route 3 and walk on to Cerulean city. "You could turn visible now Latios. After all, there's no-one around to see you apart from us."

'I'm not sure I should'

**"Come on Latios, it's a bit antisocial of you not to show yourself when we're alone."**

'Fine.' Latios grumbles as he turns visible. 'So we're going to see your sisters Misty.'

"That's right. They're into fashion rather than battles but I convinced them to run the gym all together as I was out on an adventure."

"That couldn't have been easy." Brock says.

"It wasn't. It took me a few days to get it through to them that I would be leaving. Then a few more to get through that without a gym leader, there would be no gym for them to live in. That's what made them take the position."

'Well they should take more responsibility in the family gym, because by the sounds of it, they didn't do much.'

"Not as much as me, but I didn't care. I actually got attention this way."

"It doesn't mean they could slack work though." Bianca points out.

"I know, and when I left, they realised that they had been slacking a bit too much."

'Serves them right in a way.' Latias says.

"Yeah, I suppose it does, doesn't it." Misty finishes smiling.

To reach Cerulean by mid-afternoon, the group climbed on the Latias and Latios' backs and flew to the edge of the city and disembarked. The Lati's then changed form/turn invisible and entered the city, led by Misty, toward the gym. When they got there, they entered and walked to the pool where the stadium was stationed.

"Liliy! Violet! Daisy! I'm back!" Misty calls. It didn't take long for the three sisters to arrive as they started to babble about different trainers that had turned up.

"There was this one boy who…." Lily was saying.

"There was this cute guy but he used a fire type, what a…." reminisced Daisy

"I've won the most battles out of…." Violet says triumphantly.

"Will you three please stop speaking all at once!" Misty yells, causing the three to stop talking.

"I see you haven't lost that temper of yours." Daisy states.

"Whatever. I only came to see how you've been doing."

"It's been great. It took us a while to get into the swing of things but we've been doing very well." Lily says.

"We think we may be better than you now Misty." Violet smiles.

"I don't think so." Misty smirks, "I haven't been out and haven't trained. I'm stronger than before too."

"Really? How about a battle to prove it?" Violet queries.

"Yeah, we could take you in three one v one battles." Daisy agrees.

"Hey, I want to battle too if everyone else is." Ash cries.

"I want to battle too, but I have a fire type so I would like it if you didn't use your most powerful pokemon." Bianca exclaims.

"OK, how about I face Violet as she said she's won the most, and then who wants to face who?"

"I'll battle you Bianca as I have a pretty inexperienced Goldeen that I want to train."

"That's great."

"Then I'll be facing you then Ash. Hopefully your battle this time won't be interrupted." Daisy smiles.

"Yep, and I will win." Ash says, returning the smile. Misty and Violet head to opposite sides of the battlefield as Brock takes the position of referee.

"This is a one v one battle between Misty and Violet. Let the battle commence!"

"Come on out, Corsola!" Misty cries unleashing her pokemon onto the water battlefield.

"I choose you, gyarados!" Violet says as the Atrocious Pokemon.

"I'll give you the honour of starting." Misty smiles.

"Your downfall." Violet shrugs, "Gyarados, start with dragon rage!"

"Corsola, counter with bubblebeam!" The two attacks collide in the air causing part of the field to be caught in a light mist.

"Now use hydro pump Gyarados!"

"Not gonna work, use spike cannon again." This time Gyarados' attack was too powerful for the small coral pokemon as it was blasted out of the water from the powerful attack.

"Don't let up and use ice fang!" Gyarados charges towards the Corsola and bites down on him, causing the pokemon to freeze into an ice block.

"Corsola!" Misty cries. The Gyarados lets go of Corsola as he hits the water.

"I guess this is it then Misty." Violet says smugly.

"I don't think so," Misty retorts, wagging her finger, "Recover Corsola, followed by bubblebeam to break out."

"What!" Violet cries. The ice block glows in rainbow colours before a shining white. The is a shatter of ice as Corsola breaks free, firing his bubblebeam straight into the face of Gyarados, pushing the pokemon back towards the edge of the arena.

"That's how to do it Corsola, now spike cannon!"

"Come on Gyarados, we can't let her beat us, use hydro pump again!"

"I was hoping you would do that." Misty grins.

"Huh?"

"Corsola, use mirror coat!" Corsola shines as he takes the damage from hydro pump and then fires the move right back at Gyarados with twice the power. The move slams into the Gyarados, fainting him instantly.

"Gyarados is unable to battle, the winner is Misty." Brock cries.

"Way to go Corsola!" Misty exclaims as she jumps into the pool and hugs her pokemon.

"Thanks Gyarados, we still have a bit to learn but you did great." Violet says, returning her pokemon.

"Great work Misty!" Ash calls, "Let's see if Bianca can do the same."

"I'll try my best but it'll be hard following in your footsteps." Bianca says grinning. Her and Lily take their places as Misty climbs out of the pool with her Corsola.

"Again, this is a one v one battle between Bianca and Lily. Begin!"

"Let's go Cyndaquil" Bianca calls releasing the fire mouse pokemon.

"Come on out Goldeen!" Lily shouts, releasing her pokemon.

"Cyndaquil, use ember!" Bianca cries.

"Straight to the point I see, Goldeen use water pulse." The water move tears through the fire at an alarming rate.

"Dodge Cyndaquil!" Bianca calls, as her pokemon jumps from one platform on the surface to another as a barrage of water pulses are fired. "I've got an idea! Use smokescreen!"

"Oh no, use water sport Goldeen and try and keep the battlefield clear." The Goldeen tried it's best to wash away the smoke but it came at a too faster rate and soon the whole battlefield was covered. "Urgh, my clothes are getting dirty." Lily complains.

"Use tackle, followed by swift!" Bianca cries. Lily had no time to call a command as her pokemon was slammed by a ferocious tackle before being hit by a volley of swift attacks.

On the side of the battlefield, the rest were watching intently.

'Bianca's doing a great job on her first attempt.' Latias states.

"Yeah, and miles better than Ash on his first attempt." Misty laughs.

"It wasn't my fault, Pikachu was a very disobedient pokemon and chose not to listen to me, it's not my fault."

**"What matters now though is that I do listen and we've become a great team."**

"I agree on that one buddy."

"Wait, did you just speak to your pokemon? And is someone a ventriloquist?"

"Oh yeah, you don't know. Long story short, I helped a pokemon, gained some abilities, which the only one I know about is talking to pokemon, and my girlfriend Sakura is a mute but a psychic so she talks via telepathy."

"Oh, so Misty isn't your girlfriend?" Violet questions, "I always thought you two would get together."

"WE DO NOT LIKE EACH OTHER?" Misty screams at her. "We're just friends."

"Why does everyone say that?" Ash asks dumbfounded.

"Your so blind Ash, even now." Daisy says shaking her head.

'Don't make fun of my Ash.' Sakura says, sending daggers at the sisters.

"Let's just watch the rest of the battle without arguments, shall we?" Violet says. They turn their attention back to see either the same smokecreen in effect or a new one as the battlefield was still covered in a dense fog of smoke.

"Cyndaquil, twist and use swift!" Bianca cries. The fire mouse pokemon jumps into the air and releases his swift attack. The spinning of the swift combined with the smokescreen made the stars covered in the black smoke, adding to the damage that would normally be dealt.

"Goldeen, hide under the water!" Lily cries as her pokemon dives down. However, the attempted dodge failed as the smokescreened swift sliced through the water, criticizing against the Goldeen. Once the swift was stopped, the golden rises to the top of the pool, eyes in a swirl.

"Goldeen is unable to battle. The winner is Bianca!"

"Yay! We did it Cyndaquil! Great job!"

'That was a different type of battling compared to what I normally see.' Sakura says.

"Indeed, whereas trainers normally only use one move at a time, she combined two moves together to make it even more powerful." Ash agrees.

"I think I might try something like that in our battle Ash," Daisy smiles, "Let's go." The two took their places on opposite ends of the field as Brock called out the rules.

"I choose you, Seadra!" Daisy calls.

Ash looks down to his two pokemon by his side,

"Do you want to battle Eevee?"

**"Yes please. I won't let you down!"** Eevee calls as he jumps onto the platforms in the battlefield.

"He's so adorable!" Daisy squeals, "But I will be the victor unlike my sister's"

"Even though Eevee is a very inexperienced battler, he and I will still show you what a true trainer and pokemon can do. Let's start with shadow ball!" Ash smiles. Eevee releases the attack and it thunders towards the Seadra.

"Use dragon dance to dodge!" Daisy calls. The Seadra starts to dance in a peculiar way. As the shadow ball was about to make impact, the Seadra simply swayed to the side and the shadow ball went straight past.

"Wow! I never knew you could use dragon dance like that!" Ash says, astonished.

"Now you see that I have been doing some really hard work with Seadra. We're the best combination out of all of my pokemon. Now Seadra, use hydro pump!" the Seadra takes a deep breath and fires a powerful torrent of water.

"Eevee, use quick attack to confuse Seadra!" Ash calls as Eevee starts to dart around the field, from platform to platform, making it impossible for the Seadra to know where to shoot.

"Seadra, use brine at the ceiling!" The Seadra fires straight up and ducks under the water as the water falls down onto the battlefield, hitting every inch of it, including Eevee.

"Eevee! Are you alright?" Ash calls, concerned about the dragon dance enhanced power of the brine.

**"I'm fine Ash, I'm not done yet."**

"Right, then use shadow ball into the water, back to back." Ash calls. Eevee jumps into the air and fires down into the water.

"Use dragon dance and then dodge!" Daisy calls. The Seadra starts to dance, then before an attack lands, speeds off to the opposite end of the pool and continues to dance before repeating.

_'Urgh, I need to think of a way to get Seadra above the water,"_ Ash thinks, _'But to do that, I need to hit it.'_ While he was thinking, Daisy calls out her next command,

"Seadra, use dragon pulse and wrap this battle up!"

"Eevee, use double team!"

Eevee starts making clones of itself as a green orb erupts from the water and demolishing a fake Eevee.

"I hate double team. Nothing a brine can't solve though." Daisy says as another burst of water is fired towards the ceiling of the gym.

_'Think Ash, double team and quick attack get countered by brine, dragon dance counters shadow ball and I can't use dig on a water battlefield, what can I do?'_ Ash thinks looking at the battlefield, _'That's it, the battlefield!"_

"Eevee, use dig on the side of the battle field and drain the water into your tunnel system!"

"What!?" Everyone cries. Eevee doesn't waste any time as all the illusions disappear, showing the real Eevee, charging toward the edge of the arena.

"Don't let him do it Seadra, use hydro pump to keep Eevee in the middle of the battle field!"

"Use quick attack and get there quickly!" Eevee speeds up and crashes through the side of the battlefield just below the water level as he digs his way down, right before a hydro pump fires from below the water's surface. "Yes, Eevee, make a reservoir underthe battle field and drain the water into it. Use quick attack while using dig to speed up the process!" Ash shouts out.

"Seadra, fire dragon pulses around the arena and try and find where Eevee is digging!"

In the stands, there were some surprised faces.

"I've never seen anyone do anything like that before." Violet whispers

"It's typical of Ash though." Misty says smiling, "If things aren't in his favour, he always tries to look for a different approach and that generally means changing or using the battlefield to his own advantage."

"He looks to be doing a grand job of that right now." Lily replies. As soon as she finishes, the water starts to drain at a reasonable rate and Eevee pokes his head out of his first hole.

**"How's that Ash!"** Eevee smiles.

"Great work! Now let's start to make some moves connect. Start with quick attack!" Ash calls out.

**"Here we go!"** Eevee cries as he sprints across the water that is still to drain, staright towards the Seadra.

"Seadra, use hydro pump!" Daisy calls. Seadra fires the powerful attack but Eevee is too quick and jumps to the side and slams into the Seadra,

"Now continue the quick attack around Seadra!" Ash calls, _'I probably should have thought of this before draining the water.'_ Eevee, runs circles around Seadra, kicking up a bit of water. As Eevee gets quicker and quicker, the water rises and as the water is fully drained, dust and dirt also rise into a twister with Seadra trapped inside.

"Seadra, use Hydro pump on the twister!" Daisy cries. Seadra focuses enough to launch the attack but the cyclone is spinning too fast and the water is shot straight back at the Seadra. "NO!" Daisy screams.

"Let's finish this Eevee, stop the quick attack and when it's clear use shadow ball." Eevee stops the quick attack and readies a shadow ball. As the twister dies down, the attack is fired, slamming into the Seadra, knocking it to the ground and out.

"Seadra is unable to battle, the winner is Ash!" Brock calls out.

"Good job Eevee, I knew we could do it!" Ash exclaims, jumping into the empty pool and hugging his friend.

"Thanks for the great battle Seadra, Ash was just too good." Daisy says sadly as she returns the pokemon. "Now we have to fill the pool up."

"Hehe, sorry about that, but that's another thing to look out for and practice yourself; using the battlefield."

"We will after that performance." Violet replies from the side of the field.

"You three, despite losing, seem to know what you're doing and are doing a good job at it too." Misty says.

"Of course we are. After all, we wouldn't be here if we weren't."

"We need to get going if we want to make it to Vermillion by tomorrow morning." Brock says, looking at the sinking sun.

"Why don't you all stay here the night? We have enough rooms and beds for everyone." Lily asks.

"I can't seem the harm in that." Misty smiles.

"Urgh, now it'll take even longer to get to Hoenn." Ash complains.

"Stop winging Ash, that's all you ever seem to think about." Misty glares at him.

'And me of course' Sakura smiles.

"Of course I think about you. You're on my mind all the time. I wouldn't be able to live without the thought of you." Ash smiles back at her, kissing her on the lips.

"Get a room you two." Daisy giggles.

"We would if you showed us where ours was." Ash smirks.

"Touché." Dasisy replies as she leads the group to the bedrooms. "Pick any one you want."

"Cool." Ash says as he opens the door to one room and enters with Sakura.

"Dinner will be in about half an hour, Ash and Sakura, so don't get too comfortable." Brock says.

"We won't." Ash replies as he closes the door.

"I don't think he understands what you mean." Violet states.

"He generally doesn't," Brock replies, "Misty and I normally have to tell him five or six times to get the message through to him."

"Yeah but Sakura's in there with him, so she'll make sure that they don't." Misty replies. The others nod and walk off either to their rooms or the kitchen.

* * *

**Just a couple of things to end; 1 – Shall Umbreon join the group and be one of Bianca's pokemon? And 2 – Including Eevee, which eeveelution do you like the most?**


	13. Presence

**Results from my questions;**

**1) Yes – everyone**

**No – no-one**

**2) Eevee - 0**

**Vaporeon - 0**

**Jolteon - 1**

**Flareon - 0**

**Umbreon - 2 **

**Espeon - 3**

**Leafeon - 1**

**Glaceon - 1**

**Sylveon – 1**

**I would like to say thank you to everyone for the reviews on my last chapter - I couldn't have received more praise. Now on with the story.**

"speech"

'telepathy'

_'character thoughts'_

**"pokespeech"**

* * *

**Presence**

The group left early the next morning to get to Vermilion by the afternoon and onto the overnight boat to Hoenn, but Misty was insisting on going to Cerulean cave first.

"Come on guys, it's a beautiful cave and has a lot of pokemon in there and some very skilled trainers." Misty insists.

'We can't spend too long in there if we are to reach Vermilion and have some dinner before getting on the boat.' Latios replies.

"It'll only be a quick visit."

"Ok, I give in! Let's go to Cerulean cave first." Ash sighs.

"Thanks Ash." Misty smiles as she skips ahead of the group.

**"She sure can be strange."** Pikachu says, sweatdropping.

"I know what you mean. One moment completely crazy and trying to tear out your throat and the next she's your best friend and wants to do something 'fun' with you." Ash agrees.

"I've never been to Kanto before so it would be nice for me to see what it's like in there."

'I agree with Bianca, I would like to see what's in there.' Sakura smiles.

"We should probably catch up to Misty before she goes too far ahead." Brock says, as he jogs to catch up to Misty.

'Last one there's a rotten egg.' Sakura giggles as she takes off after them. Ash and Bianca look at each other and then sprint off after the both of them.

"See you Bianca!" Ash calls back to her. He turns around and jumps to the side as he almost crashes into Sakura. "Come on slow coach," he gloats as he sprints on past her and Brock.

'Ash, you're running extremely fast, like inhumanly fast.' Sakura calls, but Ash ignores her as he spots Misty and runs past her too, leaving her in a dust cloud.

"ASH!" He hears her screech. _'I don't want to stop now.'_ Ash grins to himself.

'Ash you need to stop. You're running faster than a Rapidash.' Latios calls, causing Ash to skid to a halt outside Cerulean cave's entrance.

"I was running that fast?" Ash gasps, "I think I know my next ability."

'Yes, I believe we all do.' Sakura replies, 'That was impressive if I may say so myself.'

"Thank you. Now you won't be able to take my hat again and keep it for long as I can easily catch you."

'I can fly though.' Sakura states.

"Good point. I wonder if I'll be able to fly?" Ash daydreams as Misty storms up to him and smashes him into the wall of the cave with her mallet.

"ASH KETCHUM! WHY DID YOU DO THAT?" Misty screams.

"Ow." Ash moans as he climbs out of the wall, "I didn't realise how fast I was running Misty, sorry." Misty looks at him sceptically before conceding.

"Fine, just don't do it again." She glares. By this time, the others had caught up.

"Looks like Brock's a rotten egg." Bianca jibes.

"I was being a gentleman and letting a lady go before me."

"Of course you were."

'Once you two have stopped messing around, we should be on our guard.' Latios says.

"Why's that?"

'I feel a strong psychic presence coming from within this cave. A kind I've never felt before.'

"That's not very reassuring." Ash states bluntly.

'Nevertheless, I am most curious as to what can produce that much power. I'm going in.' Latios says.

"Right with you." Misty replies, walking into the cave.

"Is this a good idea?" Ash asks Brock.

"I don't know. We do have some strong pokemon of our own so I think we'll be safe." Brock says as he follows Misty and Latios.

'Come on Ash, it can't be too bad, can it? Let's just go in there and have a good time and possibly catch this powerful psychic type.'

"Yeah, your right Sakura, let's go. You come too Bianca."

"Right behind you two." Bianca says as she brings up the rear of the group as they walk into the cave's dark embrace.

"Latios, can you become visible please. A lot of people don't know what type of pokemon you are and won't know how strong you really are. Plus we don't know which way you're going." Ash calls out.

'Ok, but don't expect me to do it all the time.' Latios replies, turning visible.

"You should spend more time visible to the world, it's more sociable. Plus if anyone tries to attack you, you have a high chance of beating them, or you can turn invisible and they won't be able to find you."

'Hmm, you have some good points Ash, but I'm still not sure. I'm used to hiding and for good reasons too.'

"I agree with Ash, Latios. You should be here with us where we can see you." Bianca smiles, "It makes me happier when I know where you are for definite."

'I'll think about it.' Latios responds. The group walk on in silence when the get to a five-way fork in the cave.

"I say we go in the middle." Ash declares, "Always safest going in the same direction you've come from."

"But using that logic, the path we've just come down is curving so the follow on route would be the second from left path." Misty states.

'You're both wrong. The presence is coming from the right path. Let's go down that one.' Latios goes down with everyone following him. After a few minutes, there is a pokemon cry.

**"Go away!"** A Pikachu cries out to them, standing in the centre of the path.

'We are just passing through, we mean no harm.' Latios replies.

**"I don't care. You are invading our territory, turn back."**

'I'm sorry for intruding, please can we pass.'

**"No, I refuse to allow anyone down here."**

"What's the Pikachu saying?" Misty asks Ash.

"I know that Pikachu." Ash replies, "I can't remember where from but I know that Pikachu."

**"Ash! That's the cloned Pikachu!" **Ash's Pikachu exclaims.

"That's right. Hey Pikachu! It's us." Ash calls, running in front of Latios.

**"It's… you…" **The Pikachu stares, shocked, **"Come with me."**

'Thank you.' Latios thanks.

**"Not you dragon. None of you other than Ash and Pikachu."** The Pikachu retorts.

"Please Pikachu. These people and pokemon mean no harm. They're friends."

**"I cannot….. How can you understand me?"**

"Long story involving both dragons here with me and my friends."

**"But I only see one."** Ash nods towards Sakura and with a dazzling light, she returns to her true form. **"Maybe you could all come then."** Pikachu stares dumbfounded.

"Thank you Pikachu. Please lead the way." The Pikachu turns and bounds down the path stopping at intervals to make sure the group could still see him. Latias was starting to turn back when Ash came up to her. "Don't turn into your human disguise." He pleads

'Why? People may see me in this form.'

"For the same reasons as Latios. Plus Pikachu seems to be keeping humans out of this area and I prefer this form. Your much more beautiful." He replies, kissing her passionately.

**"Come on you two, we need to keep moving or we'll get lost."**

"Don't take it out on us because your girl didn't come along Pikachu." Ash teased, making Pikachu mumble about how it wasn't his fault and that they left too soon, causing Ash and Latias to laugh. The group walked on until they get to a barren room with rocks as furniture and illuminated by the sun's rays, entering through holes in the ceiling of the cave.

**"Hello! I brought some old friends!"** Pikachu calls out, creating an echo around the room.

'Hello again Ash' A voice says.

"I always wondered if I would meet you again." Ash smiles.

'Ash, be careful. That voice is the source of the strong psychic presence that I have felt.' Latios cautions.

"Don't worry Latios, he's an old friend of mine. Our first encounter wasn't great and it ended with me almost dying. But the second was when Misty, Brock and I saved him from Team Rocket."

"Ash, we've only encountered him once before." Misty says, looking at Ash strangely.

'I too agree that we've only met once. How do you remember the first encounter?'

"Why don't you stop hiding and I'll tell you Mewtwo."

'Mewtwo?' Latias asks.

'Yes young one. I am Mewtwo.' Mewtwo says as he walks from out of the shadows, 'I am surprised to see your kind out here in the Kanto region, but then again, legendary pokemon do have knack of being around where Ash is.'

'I heard you were cloned from the DNA of Mew' Latios says.

"He was." Ash says, his eyes still looking at Mewtwo, "and she's the one who made me remember my first encounter with you."

"When did she visit you? You never told us."

"That's because I was too ashamed to talk about the moment Bianca. It was when I was in the coma and Mew came to help me get out because Latias begged for someone to help. She came and gave me back my memory so I could remember who she was and thus remembering our first encounter."

'She does like to mess with what I've done or am doing.' Mewtwo smiles. 'I'm sorry Misty, Brock, Ash and Pikachu for taking your memories but I felt it would be better if everyone forgot what had happened so no-one would try and search for me.'

"That's ok Mewtwo, you did the right thing."

'Why are you here though?'

'That would be because of me' Latios floats forward, 'I felt a strong psychic presence here and thought that it could possibly be another legendary pokemon. I wanted to find you and see for myself which one it is. Sorry for my curiosity.'

"It wasn't just his fault. After all, I was the one who wanted to visit Cerulean cave in the first place." Misty says, taking some of the blame off of Latios.

'I'm not angry at any of you. I didn't expect you to venture in here, that's all. How long are you going to stay? I don't have much food or good any comfy furniture.'

"We were going to leave fairly soon as we are trying to reach Vermilion by mid-afternoon so we can go to Hoenn." Ash replies.

'Back home for you two then.' Mewtwo gestures to the Lati's.

'Actually, we were raised by Bianca and her grandfather on a small island called Altomare.' Latias replies.

'The Guardians of Altomare. Why did you leave if you have a city to look over?'

'After Team Rocket used the DMA, we resurrected Latios who was a soul dew and now he is connected to the city through some sort of link. If something bad happens to him, something bad will happen in Altomare, and vice versa.' Latias replies.

'I see, well it has been nice seeing you all again and good luck on your journey.' Mewtwo says as he turns to walk away.

"Why don't you come with us Mewtwo? Wouldn't it be better than here?" Ash asks.

Mewtwo smiles, 'Thank you for the offer Ash, but my place isn't just for Meowth, Pikachu and I. It's a place for any clones so that I can help them with their troubles. Sorry, but this is my destiny.' Ash smiles,

"I'll come back after my adventure and visit you again Mewtwo."

'Thank you Ash, I will look forward to it.'

**"See you Mewtwo. And stay out of trouble Pikachu."** Ash's Pikachu smiles.

**"I will brother. Goodbye."** The group walk out of the cavern and onwards towards the cave entrance.

The group exit the cave and make their way south towards Saffron city. They walked briskly and made it into the city by noon. They walked to the dojo to get lunch as they knew Kiyo, the Karate Master. The group walked in and found many people and pokemon training vigorously.

"This place always makes me feel as if I don't train enough." Ash says.

'You may not train as much as they do, but you train just as hard.' Latios reassures him.

"Hello there!" A familiar voice calls, making them look to where the sound was coming from.

"It's Kiyo!" Brock smiles, "Hello again, we thought that as we were in the vicinities, we could say hi and have some lunch."

"Of course. I have another guest here as well and you know what they say, the more the merrier."

Kiyo laughs and leads the group around the training to the café outside the back.

"Who's your other guest?" Misty asks.

'It's a psychic.' Latios says, 'I sense her power. Not as strong as Mewtwo or ours, but I feel it nonetheless.'

"Sabrina." Ash exclaims.

"Your right sonny. She decided to visit from her gym next door to take a break from her training." The group walk outside and sure enough, sitting down at a table in front of them was a woman with dark green hair, a pink top and white jeans.

'Hello again Ash, Misty and Brock' She says to the group, turning around, "What a lovely surprise this is."

"That's weird how you do that." Ash says, rubbing his head.

"Sorry Ash, everyone around me has gotten used to it and I forget that it can cause headaches for those who are not."

"No worries. How have you been?" Ash asks, but Sabrina blanks him as she stares at the two pokemon floating at his sides.

"It can't be… It is… But you're not meant to… Where did you come across these two pokemon Ash?" Sabrina asks in awe.

"In Altomare. I helped them out in a situation involving Team Rocket. We're friends and they wanted to travel with us."

"Wow." Is all Sabrina can says, "Can you speak telepathically?"

'Of course, why would we not be able to?' Latios replies sternly.

"This is amazing." Sabrina turns to Ash, "Can I keep one and train. It'll help improve my psychic abilities and theirs. I would love to work with one."

"No. I can't allow that." Ash replies shaking his head.

"Why not?"

'Because I owe Ash a debt which I won't be able to pay back in ten lifetimes. However, I can try and pay back as much as I can with the time I spend with him.'

"Well what about Latias then? Would you like to stay and work with me?"

"NO! You will definitely not take her from me." Ash exclaims.

"Why are you so defensive?" Sabrina asks, stunned by the outburst. Ash looks into Latias' eyes and replies with,

"Because she's my girlfriend and I can't bear the thought of not being with her."

"Oh" Sabrina says, "Well I didn't know so I thought I would ask, but seeing the circumstances, I suppose that I can't have them."

"Cheer up Sabrina." Kiyo says, "We have some Petaya berries freshly picked." This caught her attention,

"Really? Well I would like a soup made from them please."

'Latias and I will have some too.' Latios says.

"I think I will try it." Ash says.

**"I want some." **Togepi shrills.

"That'll be some for Togepi as well please." Ash says, smiling at the small egg pokemon. Everone orders some food and Kiyo goes off to alert the chef. Meanwhile, Ash and Bianca let out their pokemon onto the grass and let them play. Suddenly, a low rumbling sound is heard and a giant machine erupts from the ground. It was a purple cuboid with caterpillar tracks and a giant silver drill on the front. The letter R was painted on the side and there was a glass cage on top, behind the hatch lid.

"What's that?" Sabrina cries. The hatch opens and a platform is elevated with three individuals on it.

"Prepare for trouble."

"And make it double."

"To protect the world from devastation."

"To unite all peoples within our nation."

"To denounce the evils of truth and love."

"To extend our reach to the stars above."

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light."

"Surrender now or prepare to fight."

"Meowth! That's right!"

"Team Rocket, what do you three want?" Ash calls out angrily.

"To take all of your pokemon of course, and you've so kindly let them all out for us." Jessie laughs, "Meowth."

"On it!" he says and pushes a button. Unexpectedly, out the side of the machine came a couple of giant hovers that immediately began to suck up the pokemon.

"Get out of there guys!" Ash exclaims.

"Go Geodude!" Brocks calls out, "Use rock throw on the machine's arms!" The Geodude hurtles rocks towards the machine but the second arm lifts up and sucks the rocks into the cage on the back.

"Hahahahaha, you can't do anything to stop us." Jessie hoots.

"And now we'll be taking all of the pokemon from inside the dojo and those two legendaries." James calls out as the arms turn and focus on the two Lati's.

"No! You will not take Latias!" Ash says, running in front of her.

'Latias, use ice beam on one of the arms, I'll use dragon pulse on another.' He calls. Latias nods in response and releases her attack. At the same time, Latios sends out a volley of green orbs. However the attacks seem to hit an invisible shield as the attacks do nothing to the machine.

"Why can't it be hit?" Latias asks.

'I'm not sure. Watch out Latias!' her brother cries as she and Ash get pulled in by one of the other hovers. Latios tries to fly over and help them but is also caught in pull of air from the second hoover. Within seconds, the three were inside the glass dome on the back of the machine with Ash's and Bianca's pokemon. The rest of the group had made it inside and out of the suction but that didn't stop the laughing Team Rocket as the used the hoovers to smash through the wall.

"Are you guys ok?" Ash asks the pokemon. They responded with "fine, ok, scared and nervous". Pikachu, can you use a thunder to try and get us out of here."

**"Ok."**

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." James says, "The cage will absorb most attacks. All electric, ice, dragon, dark, ghost, psychic, fire, water and grass will be absorbed by the cage so there is nothing you can do." And Team Rocket laugh again.

**"Well there goes that plan."** Pikachu complains.

"Don't worry, I have another plan." Ash whispers. Outside of the cage, the hoovers have started to suck up all the pokemon and trainers in the dojo and they started to come into the cage as well. "Eevee, I want you to dig down. The cage that is made of the glass is on five of the six sides, so if you dig down, you should be able to get out and into the area Team Rocket are in. Get in there and use shadow ball to destroy the machine."

'That might work.' Latios says, nodding his head.

**"What about you guys in here?"** Eevee asks, **"I don't want any of you to get hurt."**

"We'll be fine." Ash says, stroking the Eevee. Eevee looks back at Ash unsure but starts to dig anyway. Within the minute, Eevee has dug a hole through the roof of the machine and into the Team Rocket cockpit.

"What?! How did you get here?" Meowth cries. Eevee just smiles and opens his mouth sending shadow balls towards them and the machine's controls. The attack destroys the controls and blows up the front end of the machine with the hoover arms reduced to rubble. The cage is thrown from the roof of the machine from the power of the explosion and lands in the grass field, leaving everyone inside a little dazed.

A Growlithe hears the commotion in a wooded area near the dojo and investigates to find a lot of pokemon and people in a glass box with one side missing. The Growlithe runs towards the entrance and starts to haul out all of them and giving them space to recover. She then notices and Eevee limping towards her direction and immediately turns and growls at him.

**"Don't come any closer. Did you cause this explosion?"**

**"Yes, but my trainer asked me to. He's in the cage, please help him."** Eevee pleads as he collapses to the ground exhausted. Growlithe looks at the Eevee a little longer before going back to pulling people and pokemon from the inside.

"Ash!" a voice calls out from within the smoke.

"No you don't!" Another voice shouts back, "Go Arbok!"

"You too Weezing." A third voice shouts. Growlithe looks towards the direction of the voices but cannot see anything through the black smoke.

"Urgh." Growlithe whips her head round and runs towards the sound. She sees a boy lying on top of Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan. He had black hair and a red and white cap. He wears a blue jacket, a black top, jeans and trainers. He is also holding a Pikachu to his chest who also has sustained injury from the explosion.

"Where's….. Eevee?" he struggles to get up so Growlithe grabs him by the collar and drags him to the Eevee she saw collapse. "Good…job… buddy." He says, stroking the evolution pokemon, "Thank you…. Growlithe. Please… help my friends…. against Team Rocket." He smiles, "Now… I need… to find… Latias." He places his Pikachu down next to his Eevee and drags himself back towards the cage.

_'What a strange human.'_ Growlithe thinks. She then turns and runs through the smoke and sees a ginger haired woman with a Togepi in her arms and a Staryu in front of her. Standing next to her is an Asian-looking man with Zubat in front of him. They are battling two others who have a Weezing and Arbok and look to be losing. _'Time to intervene.'_ She takes a breathe and fires a flamethrower at the two purple pokemon, causing surprise to come across everyone's faces as they all turn to look at her.

**"Get away from those two!"** She barks.

"A feisty one." Jessie states, "I want you now, Arbok, use poison sting."

"Weezing, use sludge!" James calls. The two pokemon turn their attention to Growlithe and fire their respective attacks. She fires back with another flamethrower, burning the stingers and evaporating the sludge as she scores a second direct hit, fainting the two pokemon.

**"Leave now or I hit you."** She threatens.

"We hit them anyway Growlithe. Pikachu, you know what to do." A voice says behind her, causing her to turn round as a Pikachu leaps into the air and releases a thunder on the Team Rocket members and pokemon, causing them to blast off into the sky. It was the trainer she pulled out of the cage. He had his Eevee on his shoulder and a dragon pokemon on each shoulder. He walks towards her and strokes her head, "Thank you for the help Growlithe. We couldn't have got rid of them without you."

**"Thank you."** She replies, smiling proudly.

"How about you come with us. We're going to the Hoenn region and I would love to have you along with us."

**"Me? With you?"** She ponders and then replies with, **"Only if you beat me in a battle." **She grins and takes her position away from Ash.

"Ok then. I choose you Pikachu." He says as his mouse pokemon runs forward.

**"This should be fun."** Pikachu says.

"I'll let you have the first move Growlithe."

_'Ok, let's see what you got.'_ She thinks and lets loose with a flamethrower.

"Use agility." The Pikachu disappears in a cloud of dust as the flamethrower passes where he just was.

_'He's quick, very quick.'_ She then uses another flamethrower, but this time she turns as she fires it creating a giant spiral of fire.

"Jump and use thunder." Ash calls out. Growlithe breaks off the attack and looks to the sky and sees Pikachu, crackling with electricity which streaks down and hits her. The attack stops and Growlithe says, unsteadily.

_'Time for a different approach.'_ She charges straight towards the Pikachu with an orange glow around her.

"Pikachu, use double edge." Pikachu charges towards Growlithe with a white glow around him. The two attacks clash together as both pokemon give it their all. "Let's finish this with thunder."

_'Oh no, this was a decoy move.'_ Growlithe thinks before being hit with another thunder attack. She tries to stay standing but the overwhelming power of the double edge and thunder throws her backwards. She lies on the ground and Ash walks up to her and kneels beside her.

"I think I won that. What do you say?" Growlithe licks his hand and nods her head. Ash gets out a pokeball and taps it on the Growlithe's body, sucking her into it. Ash puts the ball on the ground watching it rock three times before pinging to signal that she was caught. Ash stands up and walks with Pikachu to where the rest of his friends are waiting.

"No victory pose Ash?" Misty asks.

"Too tired to."

"You won't like what I'm going to say then." Brock replies, "We need to start walking if we're to make it onto the overnight boat to Hoenn."

"Oh god, really? This day can't get worse." Ash moans.

'Cheer up Ash, Latios and I will fly everyone there. That way, we can stay for lunch and make it to Vermilion in plenty of time.'

"Great idea, now I think I ordered something which included berries but I can't remember which ones."

"Petaya berries." Sabrina answers, "They help raise special attack for pokemon but it helps my psychic abilities as 94% of psychic moves require the use of the special attack stat."

"Cool, maybe I'll start to develop some psychic powers too." Ash jokes.

'It is possible you might Ash, remember our gift.'

"Yeah, guess you're right Latios. I forgot about that." Ash says, rubbing his head. Suddenly his stomach rumbles, "All this food is making me more hungry." Everyone laughs and they sit down to eat.

Once the group finish they say goodbye to Sabrina and Kiyo and fly off to Vermilion City. They arrive as the sun was setting, casting an orange glow all around the city.

'It's beautiful.' Latias sighs, marvelling at the sight of the city as they land.

"Not as beautiful as you though." Ash says, kissing Latias on the cheek and making her blush.

"Once you two have stopped flirting, we need to go to the pokemon centre so you can send a pokemon back to Oak, Ash." Brock says as he starts walking towards the pokemon centre.

The group arrive in there in a matter of minutes and as they walk in, Brock's eyes immediately turn to love hearts as he sees Nurse Joy.

"Nurse Joy, although I have only just met you, I feel as if I'm on cloud nine and can't be taken down. Even if the devil tried, I would not move with you at my si –arrrggghhh!"

"Come on Brock, you should know by now that this will happen when you annoy someone." Misty says angrily, pulling Brock away by the ear. She pulls him past the group towards the exit when Ash says,

"The devil may not be able to pull you off but Misty is much worse."

"What did you say Ash Ketchum?" Misty turns to Ash with fire in her eyes.

"Nothing, just going to send Totodile back to Oak." He replies as he runs off to the PC before Misty could reply. He sits down and sets up a video link to Oak.

"Hello Ash, have you arrived in Hoenn?"

"No. We're leaving tonight."

"How has it taken so long?"

"We went to visit Misty and Brock's gyms. Then we went to Cerulean cave and had lunch at Saffron. I caught a Growlithe there as she proved helpful against Team Rocket and I want to send Totodile back to the lab so she can be on my team."

"Right, just place Totodile's ball on the pedestal and he'll come right back to the lab." Ash places the ball and it disappears. "Here it is." Oaks says holding the ball up to the screen.

"Thank you Oak, now I need to find Misty before she hurts Brock too much." Ash says, looking at the doors.

"What do you mean?"

"Nurse Joy."

"Ah" Oak laughs, "I hope to speak with you soon Ash and have fun on your adventure."

"Thanks Professor." The screen goes black and Ash gets up and leaves with Bianca and the Lati's when they see an Umbreon sitting beside the doors.

**"Umbreon!"** Pikachu exclaims and jumps off Ash's shoulder.

**"Hello Pikachu."** She replies shyly.

**"What are you doing here?"**

**"I decided I wanted to come along with you, if that's ok. I have my pokeball with me so you can keep me or send me back."**

**"Of course you can come." **Pikachu replies.

**"Thanks Pikachu"** Umbreon says. She gets up and pecks Pikachu on the cheek, surprising the mouse pokemon and causing him to faint.

"Umbreon, this is Bianca. She's a new trainer and I think your experience will help her. You'll be on her team for the journey if that's ok with you." Ash says.

**"Ok, but can I stay out of my ball like Pikachu please. I want to keep an eye on him so he doesn't faint for no reason again."** Umbreon replies, causing Ash to laugh.

**"Hey, I was just kissed by a beautiful pokemon, of course I was gonna faint."** Pikachu replies, hitting Ash and glaring at Umbreon.

**"How sweet." **Umbreon says, blushing.

"Come on you two, let's find Misty and Brock and get on the boat to Hoenn." Bianca picks up Umbreon's ball and the group walk out of the pokemon centre and to the boat with two new friends for their journey.

* * *

**Ferosianinja – your berry will be used in the next few chapters. Sorry it's taken so long. **

**What pokemon should the characters get in Hoenn? I'll need the pokemon's name and the trainer they will belong to. No legendaries please. Ash needs 3 more, the others can have four more. This along with the Eevee question will be ongoing for a few more chapters so please continue to post your ideas.**


	14. Arrival

**Here's an update on the Eevee-lution poll: **

**Eevee, Vaporeon, Flareon – 0; Jolteon, Leafeon, Glaceon – 1; Sylveon, Umbreon; - 2; Espeon – 3**

**Please continue to post your favourite along with pokemon you would like to see with our heroes. Now on with the chapter.**

"speech"

'telepathy'

**"pokespeech"**

_'Character thoughts'_

(Own thoughts)

* * *

**Arrival**

Aboard the MV Empire Windrush, we find the group by the pool with all their pokemon out with them. Ash, Sakura, Bianca, Misty and Brock were all in the swimming pool. All of Misty's pokemon were with them along with Eevee. Pikachu and Umbreon were talking while looking out to sea. All the other pokemon didn't like the water too much due to weaknesses, but all are having fun in the moonlight.

"Why don't you join us Latios?" Ash calls out to the invisible pokemon, "There's no-one around, so what's the harm?"

'If there is trouble like earlier today, I would like for one of us to remain able to be free. If we are all visible, it'll be easier for whoever to take all of us.'

"Come on, whoever even decides to take us is stupid. We'll get out of any situation thrown our way. Just enjoy the night and the pool with us."

'No thank you Ash. I feel better up here watching over everyone.'

'Let him be Ash. I agree with you but what he says does make sense.'

"Fine. I just wish he would be less cautious at times."

'He's had to be cautious all his life. It'll be hard to change that. Come on, race you to the other side.' Sakura pushes off the wall and speeds towards the other side of the large pool, Ash following closely behind.

By the edge of the ship, Pikachu and Umbreon are talking,

**"When did you first develop feelings for me?"** Umbreon asks.

**"When I first saw you as an Umbreon. We were in Johto and you fought an Alakazam with such skill that you knocked it out without sustaining any damage. It was amazing."**

**"That was one of my first battles as an Umbreon. I'm surprised you remember that."**

**"How can I not? You were elegant yet destructive. The combination of defence and attack that you displayed was beautiful."** Pikachu says, looking at Umbreon.

**"Thank you."** Umbreon replies, blushing as she looks back at Pikachu.

**"I've never seen you like at night before."**

**"Why is that important?"**

**"Because your rings are illuminating you to make you seem like a night angel." **Umbreon blushes,

**"They're meant to make people scared and to leave me alone."**

**"It's doing the exact opposite to me. You look beautiful."** Pikachu kisses Umbreon on the cheek. They then both lie down next to each other and try to fall asleep.

"Look at those two." Misty whispers to the others, "They look so cute together."

"They've just been talking about when Pikachu first fell in love with her."

"We should leave those two alone and probably should get some sleep as well." Brock replies.

"Yeah, you're right. Although I don't want to leave, I won't get up in the morning if I stay up much later."

'You'll wake up; I'll make sure of that' Sakura grins.

"I'm not sure if I'll like that or not."

'You'll like it alright.'

"Once you two have stopped flirting, you should return your pokemon and head off to your cabin." Misty says, breaking their moment. They recall their pokemon except for Pikachu and Umbreon.

"Could you look out for these two Latios. I don't have the heart to move them from each other's side." Ash asks.

'Don't worry Ash, no harm will befall them tonight.'

"Thanks, I'll see you tomorrow then." Ash says as he walks inside to his cabin.

The next morning, the MV Empire Windrush pulls into the docks at Slateport city. A bell is sounded throughout the ship to alert the passengers that they have arrived and they start to exit the ship. However, as usual, Ash was still asleep, having slept through the bell and announcement. Latias floats next to the bed watching him rest.

_'Should I wake him? He looks so peaceful though. However we really should be leaving. Oh, I don't know.'_ Latias goes to the window and looks down at Slateport. _'So this is where my parents came from. I can't wait to explore Hoenn. In that case, I better wake Ash up.'_ She turns back to Ash and kisses him on the lips, causing the boy to stir. His eyes remain shut but instead of looking sleepy, they look dreamy.

'Come on Ash, it's time to leave. I think everyone else has left.'

"Do we have to? Can't we spend some more time together? Alone?" He replies sitting up.

'Not now. We need to meet up with the others.'

"Fine." Ash grumbles as he goes to the bathroom with some clothes to change into. He walks out a few minutes later and takes Sakura's hand, who has just transformed, and they walk off the ship. Once they step onto Hoenn soil, Pikachu runs up and jumps onto Ash's shoulder.

**"Your finally off the boat."**

"Sorry Pikachu, but you know me and my sleep."

**"Yes, unfortunately for you, so does Misty."** As Pikachu says her name, her voice shrieks out across the docks,

"ASH KETCHUM! HOW HARD IS IT TO WAKE UP WHEN EVERYONE ELSE WAKES UP?"

"Christ Misty, not so loud. You know I'm a deep sleeper. I really should bring an alarm."

"You did in Johto, except you slept through that too." Brock smiles.

"Yeah, now I remember. What happened to it?"

"Misty smashed it because it woke her up and not you."

"Hey, you would've done it if I hadn't so don't push all of the blame onto me." Misty replies angrily. Brock shrugs his shoulders as if he doesn't care.

"Come on guys. We need to get to Littleroot town to meet Professor Birch. We should get out of the city as soon as possible and fly there."

'Bianca's right. The faster we get there, the quicker we can start our journey.'

"Well let's go then!" Ash exclaims as he starts to speed walk out of the docks.

"Do you know where you're going?" Misty asks, "Because I'm pretty certain you don't."

"It's a city. It shouldn't be too hard to find an exit or two."

'Actually, Slateport is quite big. If you all head down this road and take the second right, I'll see where the nearest exit is so we can fly off to Littleroot.' Latios says.

"Thanks, now I definitely know where I'm going." Ash smirks at Misty. The group walk in the given directions and sit on a nearby bench waiting for Latios to return with news of where to go. Luckily for the group, it didn't take too long.

'If you go carry on the way you go, you should see a turn going right after a few hundred metres. Then follow the road north and you'll see the exit fairly quickly.'

"Thanks Latios. Do you know if there's a gym here?"

'Sorry, Ash but there isn't. However, there is a contest arena.'

"A contest arena?" Bianca perks up.

'Yes, it's where coordinators show of their pokemon's moves in style, whether it be cool, tough or beautiful. If you pass the first stage of showing off your pokemon's moves, you go onto the battle stage where you'll battle other people trying to take points from your opponent by attacking and defending.'

"That sounds like a lot of fun. I might have to enter one of those."

"You'll need to practice different moves with your pokemon and get them stronger too so they don't go down easily in the battle stage."

"You're right, but for now we should focus on getting to Littleroot town." The group walk on in silence taking in the surroundings. In next to no time, they were out of Slateport and flying to Littleroot.

"Hoenn sure looks like a lovely place." Misty says, looking down at the towns passing them by.

"I agree. It's nice to be out and travelling around. You get to see so many different things." Bianca replies.

"That's not always a good thing Bianca."

"You had to ruin the moment Ash." Misty exclaims.

"Sorry, but I was trying to give a fair warning."

"Don't worry Misty, it's okay. Nothing will deter me from having a good time, even if a drill machine tries to capture everyone in a dojo." This got the group laughing.

'If you look ahead, you should see Littleroot. It'll take about five minutes to reach it.' Latios says.

"Great, then we can meet Birch and tell him we're here and to have a good look at the Hoenn starters." Ash says eagerly.

**"What are we going to do once we've done that? Stay in Littleroot or camp out?"**

"I think we should let Bianca decide."

"Decide what?"

"Right, you can't understand pokemon. Pikachu is wondering whether we'll be staying in Littleroot or camping out and I said it's up to you."

"I think it'll be a good idea to camp out. I need to get used to setting up a fire and the tent."

"Wise decision Bianca. But first, Littleroot town." The group descend to route 201 and walk into Littleroot. They walks to the lab and knock on the door.

"Hello! Professor Birch?" Ash calls out. The door opens and a skinny man appears.

"Hello, you must be Ash."

"Are you Professor Birch?"

"No, sorry I'm his assistant, Professor Cedar (I know this isn't his name in the anime but I couldn't remember it. Instead I went with the tree themed names)

"Where's Birch then?" Bianca asks.

"He's out doing research, if you would like to –"

"We'll go find him then, thanks." Ash says as he walks off briskly into the forest with his friends close behind.

"Wait, you don't even know where …. He is. Teenagers these days. That's the third person I've tried to stop today." Cedar sighs and walks back inside.

"Birch! Birch!" Ash shouts out.

"You do realise he may not even be around here."

"Yeah but the louder I make my voice, the more chance he has of hearing me."

"I knew we should've stayed at the lab."

"You could've Misty, I didn't make you come along."

"Stop bickering you two. Let's just calm down and find Birch quickly." Brock says.

'I sense a presence over there.' Sakura points into the woods.

"Let's go that way then." Ash says as he takes the lead. "Birch! Birch!" He calls again.

"Ash?! Is that you?" A voice calls back. The group walk into a clearing and see two people. One has a beard and is wearing a lab coat, a satchel while the other is wearing a red bandanna, shoes and top. She also had some short shorts on too.

"Hey, you must be Birch." Ash says, walking over to Birch and holding out his hand.

"Yes, that's me." He replies, shaking Ash's hand, "I see you've brought some company."

"Yep. This is Misty, Brock, Bianca, my buddy Pikachu and my girlfriend Sakura."

"Nice to meet you all. This is May, it's her first day as a pokemon trainer." Birch says, gesturing to the girl behind him.

"Hello, nice to meet you all."

"I've heard you've had a lot of experience when it comes to travelling Ash, how about you let May tag along with you?"

"Um, ok. I suppose that's true. I don't have a problem with that."

"Good. Now let's go to the lab and May, you can pick your first pokemon." The group all walk back to the lab and meet Cedar there.

"Hello Birch and everyone else. Where's the other kid who went to see you?"

"Oh he helped me out with my situation and then took a Treecko and left."

"Oh. Well we have another one over here."

"Good. May come with me." They walked over to a table with a pokeball on it. Birch brought two more out of his bag and placed them next to each other. "First of all we have Treecko, the wood gecko pokemon and the grass type starter. Next is Torchic, the chick pokemon and the fire type starter. Finally we have Mudkip, the mud fish pokemon. Whichever you pick will be your partner on your journey."

"Hmmm." May ponders. "Treecko looks kind of scary. I don't really get along with Mudkip so I'll pick Torchic." May picks up the chick pokemon and it smiles and snuggles against May's chest.

"He's taking a liking to you May. I'm sure you'll be a great team."

"Thanks Birch."

"Shall we get going then? The nearest town is Oldale town. If we get going we will reach it my tonight." Brock says.

"Why don't we stay here a while Brock? I would like to see what other pokemon Birch has here and we did say we would camp out tonight." Bianca replies.

"Ok then, I'll go and prepare some lunch while you lot do something else." Brock says heading for the kitchen.

"Can you show me some more pokemon Birch?"

"Sure thing Bianca, right this way." Birch says, walking from the lab.

"Wait for me guys, I want to come too." May exclaims (She's not afraid of pokemon in this because I hated her being afraid in the anime.) The three of them leave.

**"So what shall we do?"**

"I dunno buddy. Want to wander around the surrounding area?"

**"Sure, why not?"** Pikachu jumps onto Ash's shoulder as they walk out, Ash and Latias' hands interwined.

Unknown to the three, a figure is watching them walk into the woods. '_He can talk to pokemon. What an interesting guy. I would like to meet him and battle him. My first opponent.'_ The figure thinks to himself and he follows them.

Back with the three, they walk into a clearing before Pikachu asks,

**"What's your first impression of May and Birch?"**

"Birch seems like a nice guy. He seemed excited when May picked her first pokemon which I thought was a bit strange since he must do it a lot, but then again he could feel that way because he gets to witness the start to a trainer's journey. May seemed nice too. She seemed pleased with getting a new pokemon."

'I agree. All I felt were positive emotions from the both of them, although they both had a hint of unease. Possibly due to the other trainer that left earlier.'

**"Could be. I wonder what happened to him?"**

"Well he couldn't have gone far."

"You searching for someone?" A voice says, causing the three to turn around. Standing there is a male teen with flat blond hair and blue eyes. He's wearing a grey pair of tracksuit bottoms, hoody and trainers. He had a belt where a lone pokeball was held and a black bag on his back.

"Hello, who are you?"

"I'm Rob, What are your names?"

"I'm Ash, this is my buddy Pikachu and my girlfriend Sakura."

"Nice to meet you all. I overheard you talking and came to investigate. I heard you talking to your Pikachu like you understood him. How is that possible?"

"Uh, it's a long story involving a near death experience I'd rather not talk about."

"Sorry, I'm always told that I'm too curious for my own good. Did you receive your first pokemon just now?"

"No, Pikachu was my first pokemon. I'm from Kanto so I don't get a starter from Hoenn, despite it being my first time here."

"Ah, that's a shame. Don't worry about it though, the woods just past here are full of Treecko's and the lakes are full of Mudkip so if you want one of those, you should go there. Not sure where to get Torchic from, possible up north somewhere."

"You know a lot about this place, do you live here?"

"Yeah, I live in a city in the trees up north called Fortree."

"Cool. We'll have to go there, won't we Sakura." Sakura nods her head shyly, keeping her eyes on Rob warily.

"She doesn't speak much does she."

"That's because… well… she's a mute."

"Oh. Sorry, I didn't know. It must be hard for the two of you." Rob says apologetically. A smile appears on Ash's face.

"Not really. She's a psychic, so she speaks through telepathy."

"Wow. I've never met a psychic before." Ash laughs at Rob's shocked expression.

"Don't worry, I lot of people haven't and are just as shocked as you are."

"Anyway, the real reason I was here is because I'm a new trainer, I wanted to have a battle and learn from someone who is more experienced, so can we battle?" Rob asks as his eyes focus on Sakura's.

"Sure thing, you're on."

'Are you sure Ash, I don't get a good feeling from this guy.' Sakura says as Rob walks to the other side of the little clearing.

"Don't worry so much Sakura. He seems like a nice guy and he's new to this so I think it will be good for us to battle."

'I feel some strong negative emotions coming from him though. I don't know what they're about but I don't trust him.'

"It's fine. We'll have this battle and then we'll tell him we need to go."

"As I've only got one pokemon, we'll do a one v one battle."

"Sure thing." Ash replies, picking a ball from his belt, "I choose you, Cyndaquil!" The ball burst open and Ash's Cyndaquil appears, its flame on its back blazing brightly.

"Oh God." Rob says. "The best is all I ask, go Treecko!" He throws his pokeball into the air and out of it appears his new partner.

'That Treecko looks adamant. It won't go down easily.' Sakura tells Ash.

"Thanks, but I think I'll be fine. As you have the disadvantage, you can go first."

"Thanks Ash. Treecko, let's start off with quick attack." Treecko races towards Cyndaquil, closing the gap between the two blindingly fast. Treecko slams into the Cyndaquil, knocking it flying.

"Cyndaquil, retaliate with swift." Cyndaquil uses the moment of the quick attack to flip and unleash his swift attack.

"Dodge it Treecko." Treecko starts to backflip away from the swift until he is backed up against a tree and the swift hits the target. "Treecko! Let's show them you won't go down to one hit, no matter how powerful. Use quick attack again."

"Cyndquil, use flame wheel." The two pokemon charged toward each other, one with a white streak of light behind him and the other surrounded in flames. The two collide and Treecko flies backwards. Rob runs to his pokemon and kneels down beside him.

"Are you alright?" Treecko nods and slowly rises to his feet, wanting to fight on. "Treecko, you're too tired to fight. Let's go to Oldale and we'll get you rested up there." The Treecko looks up at his trainer and shakes his head. "Ok, but I don't want you too badly hurt." Rob walks back to his original spot and cries out, "Use absorb." Treecko releases a red beam from his mouth that slams into Cyndaquil, draining his energy.

"Cyndaquil, use flamethrower to get that off you!" Ash exclaims. Cyndaquil's fire burns brighter. His whole body starts to glow. Treecko stops the attack in shock and everyone stares at Cyndaquil. His legs grow a little longer and his body extends. The flame on his back gets bigger and a new flame appears on his head. They light fades and Cyndaquil was gone and Quilava was standing there. "Yeah, you evolved Quilava!" He pulled out his pokedex and it gave the data on Quilava. "Ok then, let's try your new move then, use Eruption!"

**"Let's do this!"** Quilava shouts and releases the powerful attack.

"Treecko return!" Rob calls out. Treecko disappears from the battlefield, moments before the eruption lands.

"What? Why did you do that?"

"I had no chance of winning Ash. Your Quilava is too powerful for Treecko and I couldn't see my Treecko get hurt by that attack, especially in his weakened state." Ash nods and smiles,

"That's wise. Thank you for the battle."

"No thank you. I hope to see you again." Rob replies and then looks at Sakura, "Both of you." He then turns and disappears into the forest, heading for Oldale.

"See, he wasn't that bad. He knows what he's doing. I've had a bit more experience and of course you helped." Ash says smiling and stroking his Quilava.

**"Thanks. I feel so much stronger now. It feels good to be bigger too."**

'There's something about him though. He has a… a… darker side to him that he isn't showing.'

"Don't worry about it Sakura. He's gone now. We should get back to the lab for lunch." Ash says. He takes hold of Sakura's hand and they walk back to the lab with Pikachu and Quilava at their side.

* * *

**Here's another chapter. Do you trust Rob? Don't know if it's as good as previous chapters because the heat here in the UK is really getting to me. Please let me know of any errors. Also, my friend and I are rating all of the pokemon from gen1-5 on a scale of 1-10, except for six pokemon – these will be given 11 and would be on your team in an ideal pokemon world. If you would like to do this too, send your name and your ratings to and I'll forward them on to my friend who will be putting the ratings onto Excel which will show which pokemon are liked more than others and which gen people like the most. If you have any questions, put them in a review, pm me or send them to me via an email with your name. Finally, I'm writing another fanfic at the same time except it isn't a story. It's about me and my life and anything you want to know about me you can ask in that 'story'. K9wolf369.**


	15. Magma

**I'm really sorry for not updating in a while but this week is the most jam packed week I've had with two parties, two trips to the beach for the day and visiting my nan in Surrey means I just haven't had the time to write. The most important thing though, is that the chapter is here. Also here's an update on the Eevee-lution poll: **

**Eevee, Vaporeon, Flareon – 0; Leafeon, Glaceon – 1; Jolteon, Sylveon, Umbreon; - 2; Espeon – 3**

**This chapter has the arrival of a new pokemon which a couple of you suggested. Read on to find out which pokemon it is.**

* * *

**Magma**

We find the group waking up the following day on route 201. Bianca is the first to wake and she exits her tent, feeling the morning sun on her face. She takes a look around the camp, seeing that no-one else was awake so she decides to find a spot and draw. She sits down a few metres from camp and gets out her pencils and starts to draw some sleeping pokemon.

A pokemon watches Bianca from behind her. The pokemon creeps forward to the oblivious Bianca and climbs up the tree that Bianca rests on to view the drawing.

_'It's amazing. The detail is astonishing.'_ The pokemon thinks. The pokemon leans forward to get a closer look. Suddenly, the pokemon loses her grip and falls. The pokemon startles Bianca as she lands on the drawing.

"Aaaahhh!" Bianca cries jumping up from her spot and moving a few metres away from the pokemon. The pokemon picks herself up and looks at Bianca and then her drawings. She sits down and starts to look through them, when she hears the sound of a pokedex and looks over at Bianca.

"Smeargle, the painter pokemon. A Smeargle marks its territory using a fluid that leaks out from the tip of its tail. About 5,000 different marks left by this Pokémon have been found"

"A painter pokemon. You must like to paint then." The smeargle nods her head and looks back at the drawings. "Do you like them?" Smeargle nods her head vigorously. "I never knew that there are pokemon who like art. That's the joys of travelling I suppose."

"Bianca?!" A voice calls out.

"Over here Ash." Ash walks out of the trees and over to Bianca.

"I heard you shout, you alright?"

"Yeah, this Smeargle fell out of the tree and startled me."

"Hello there." Ash says, crouching down. "I'm a friend of Bianca's. What are you doing so far from home?"

"What do you mean Ash? Doesn't she live here?"

"Smeargle are native to the Johto region. She's far from here original home." Ash explains. He turns back to the Smeargle, "so how did you get here? I can understand you."

**"I was at Olivine city near the docks. I was painting the view of the ships coming in and out of the port. A gust of wind blew me off my feet and I fell into a crate. I couldn't get out and the crate got shipped out to Hoenn. Since then I've been searching for an area to work without any problems. So far, no pokemon likes my drawings and so I leave and look for another spot."** Ash reiterates what Smeargle says to Bianca. She nods her head and says,

"I've got an idea, two actually. You can come with us if you want. I can catch you and we can journey together, painting different sites together. You won't have to worry about other pokemon not wanting your artwork around. Or, you can come along with us, not captured and can leave us when you've found where pokemon respect you and your drawings." Smeargle puts a paw to her chin and thinks about the offer.

_'I would be safe from trouble if I stay with them. Bianca also likes art a lot and I want to see more of her artwork.'_** "I would like to stay with you Bianca."** Smeargle replies. Bianca smiles and gets out a pokeball and throws it at Smeargle who offers no resistance. After the ball rocks three times, it pings to let Bianca and Ash know that Smeargle is caught. Bianca immediately releases Smeargle along with Umbreon and Cyndaquil.

"Umbreon, Cyndaquil, here is are newest member of our team, Smeargle. We both like art and bonded very quickly. Say hi."

**"Hello Smeargle."**

**"Hey."** Umbreon turns to Ash, **"Is Pikachu still asleep?"**

"Yes, he's in my tent but be careful, Latias is in there as well." Ash laughs as Umbreon walks back to the tents, "We better get back and wake the others up and get going."

"Ok, come along you two." They get back to camp and see that Brock is up and preparing breakfast and Latias sitting, rubbing her eyes sleepily, with May staring at her wide eyed.

"Did Umbreon wake you up?" Ash asks, Latias.

'No, I was already awake. You're up early.'

"Bianca woke me up. A Smeargle scared her and she squealed, waking me up."

'Are you alright Bianca?'

"Yes thank you. Smeargle is now on my team. She took a liking to my art and so we bonded pretty quickly."

'Good for you. Should we wake Misty up and tell her that Brock is making breakfast?' Latias questions, looking towards her tent.

"I ask myself that everyday Latias. You wake her too early and she'll scream at you. Wake her too late and she'll scream at you. Leave her alone and she'll scream at you. I choose to leave her because then there's nothing I've done."

"She'll want to know that breakfast is going to be ready though."

"Wake her when breakfast is nearly ready, that way it isn't too early or too late." Ash declares.

"That's one of the smartest things you've ever said." Brock replies.

"Hey! I have lots of clever things to say, the time to say them is important though. I wouldn't want to overdo it."

"If you say so Ash." Brock smiles. Ash slumps next to Latias with a "Humph".

'I'm sure you do have a lot of intelligent ideas Ash. I've seen them when you battle.'

"Thanks Latias. I can always rely on you to cheer me up." Ash replies, putting his arm around her and bringing him close to him.

"She's a...She's a... Latias!" May says, shocked. The four of them look at her and then at each other.

"Yeah... She is." Ash says as if it was perfectly natural for her to be there, which for most of them, it was.

"Ash, May didn't know about her beforehand. She only knew Sakura." Bianca says.

"Oh." Is all Ash could reply with.

"How did you catch her?"

"She's not caught, nor will I catch her unless either the situation requires it or she wants to be."

"How did you meet?"

"I saved her and her brother in a town called Altomare."

"Wait, where's Sakura? She wouldn't like you two holding hands."

"May, this is Sakura." Ash replies. Latias then turns into her human form and May faints. "Oh well. I just hope she'll keep quiet about it." Ash says, as Latias reverts to her true form.

"I wouldn't worry Ash, she won't tell anyone because we'll tell her not too."

"If you say so Brock." Ash replies, still unsure.

'She's seems like a nice girl so I'm sure she'll keep it a secret.' Latias says, resting her head onto Ash's smiles and strokes her head.

"This is a perfect moment." Bianca says, drawing again. Smeargle looks up at Bianca and tugs on her skirt. "Do you want a bit of paper too Smeargle?" Smeargle nods her head. "Here you go then." Bianca rips out a page in her book and gives it to the Smeargle. Smeargle then goes to the nearest tree and scales it, collecting leaves. She then clambers down and starts to mash them together, creating a green paint like paste. She then walks over to the base of the tree and grabs some mud and puts it next to the leaves. Smeargle continues to collect more colours from various places, oblivious to everyone watching her. When she has all of her paints, she looks up and sees everyone staring at her.

"You're going to have to teach me how to get those if I run out on my travels." Bianca says in awe. Smeargle blushes slightly and starts to paint using her tail. Everyone else goes back to what they were doing. By the time Bianca and Smeargle finish their drawings of Ash and Latias, Brock finishes making the dinner and they all eat breakfast.

"Mmmmm, another great meal Brock, thanks." Ash smiles.

'I too agree with Ash. This breakfast is one of the best I've had for a while.' Latios agrees. The group then pack up and leave, walking to Oldale town.

By midday, the group can see Oldale town, but what has caught their interest is the ruins that lie just outside of them.

"I never knew there are ruins here." May says.

"I'm intrigued as to what is up there. Shall we go and investigate?"

'I would also like to go up there. Maybe we can learn more about Latias and I.' Latios says, turning invisible, 'You should turn invisible too Latias.'

"I agree." Ash nods, "We're getting nearer the town and there are more people around, you could be seen." Latias joins her brother and they walk up the hill toward the ruins. They reach the top and see a man with brown spikey hair and a yellow work suit.

"Hello, do you work here on the ruins?" May asks. The man turns round and smiles at the group.

"Yes, I'm professor Alden and this is the Oldale ruins."

"Hi, I'm Ash and this is my partner Pikachu."

"Hi, I'm May."

"Hello, I'm Brock."

"Hi I'm Misty."

"Hi I'm Bianca. What are you researching?"

"Well these ruins are said to be a portal between our world and the Ancient pokemon world."

"Wow, how much success are you having trying to get to the Ancient world?" Ash questions.

"Not much I'm afraid. Let's go back to my room in the pokemon centre in Oldale and I'll tell you more about the ruins there."

At the pokemon centre in a back room, Alden tells them more about the ruins.

"The entrance to the ruins looks like this." Alden says, pointing to a picture on the wall, "You see the four indentations in the centre, four orbs need to be placed into those indentations. This will open the ruins up. However, if you put them in the wrong order, the ruins will collapse. If you try and force your way in, the ruins will collapse. I need to find those orbs, otherwise the mystery of the ruins will stay a mystery."

"Do you know where the orbs could be?"

"That's the problem Misty, the orbs are said to have been lost more than two hundred years ago. I haven't the foggiest of where to look for them."

"We're travelling the whole of the Hoenn region, so if you show us what the orbs are like, then we can keep an eye open for them."

"Thank you. These are what the orbs look like," Alden pulls out a dusty book from the bookshelf and opens it. On the page there are four orbs in four colours; red, blue, yellow and green. "I'm going to head back up to the ruins. If you come across any news on these orbs, contact this pokemon centre and ask Nurse Joy for me. Feel free to look at any books or pictures."

"Thanks." Brock replies. Alden leaves them as the group are all still looking at the book.

"Why don't we all take a couple of books each and have a look through them to see if we can learn anything about you two." Ash says to Latias and Latios. The two become visible and use psychic to get the books down from the shelf and hands them out. The group spend a couple of hours looking through the books when suddenly, the room bursts open and a group of people dressed in red enter with Houndooms at their sides.

"Go to the…. Are those really Latios and Latias?" Grunt 1 says surprised.

"They are. Let's take them to Tabitha." Grunt 2 replies, "Houndoom, use crunch on the legendaries. One Houndoom jumps towards Latias, his teeth glowing white.

"NO!" Ash cries and tackles the Houndoom to the floor, inches before his jaws hit Latias. "Get out of here!" He shouts to Latias and Latios. The two turn invisible and with a buffet of wind, the two barge past the Grunts, down the corridors of the pokemon centre.

"How dare you do that! Houndoom, use dark pulse down the corridor." The Houndoom opens its jaw and shoots rings of dark energy down the corridor, hitting the wall at the end. "Argh, they got away and it's your fault!" Grunt 2 says.

"Good, you shouldn't hurt a legendary pokemon." May retorts.

"Well we don't follow orders from kids." Grunt 1 replies, "Now come with us or we'll start hurting the already injured pokemon here in this pokemon centre."

"You wouldn't?" Bianca gasps.

"We will if you five don't do as you're told. Now MOVE IT!" The five all walk out of Alden's office, following one grunt with the other behind them. They come to the main room where all the other trainers and Nurse Joy are being held by more Magma Grunts with Mightyena's.

"I see you've found some more."

"This is the last of them. However there were a Latias and Latios with them but they managed to escape by turning invisible." Grunt 1 replies, tying the group's hands together with some zip ties.

"Should we tell Tabitha?"

"Not unless we can capture them, I don't think it'll be worth it."

"But they could help us with our quest to wake Lord Groudon."

"Yeah, you're right. It's just we don't want to be blamed with losing the two of them."

"Blamed for losing what two." A voice says. In the entrance stands another Magma member. However, unlike the other members, he seemed to be more confident.

"Uh… er…. Commander Tabitha, we didn't think you'd come to the poke centre."

"I came to search Alden's office to see if he holds any information on Lord Groudon. Now who did you lose." Tabitha says, losing a little bit of patience.

"A Latias and Latios." Grunt 2 mumbles.

"Sorry, I did you just say Latias and Latios?" The Grunt's nod their head. Tabitha shakes his head. "Despite the fact that you weren't expected to find them here, you should still be prepared to take them down."

"We would've done sir, but a trainer dived at my Houndoom before it could land an attack. Then they turned invisible and fled."

"Who saved them?" Grunt 2 points towards Ash, who is glaring at Tabitha. Tabitha walks over to Ash and drags him to the centre of the room. "You've cost us to lose two pokemon who could help us with our search and awakening of Lord Groudon. I don't appreciate you attacking my member's pokemon either."

"And I don't appreciate you trying to hurt a legendary pokemon, that would then be used for selfish needs and purposes." Ash replies.

"You have guts talking back to me kid. We could use someone like you."

"Like I would join you." Ash scoffs.

"I can be very persuasive if I want to be. But first, I want you to tell me where the two legendaries are."

"Even if I knew where they were, I wouldn't tell you." Tabitha hits Ash in the stomach, causing him to double over.

"I'll try again. Where are they?"

"I don't know. I told them to run. Hopefully, they'll get as far away as possible and leave us here."

"Ok, where is Alden?"

"Again, I won't help you."

"Ah but you know. I'll ask once more before I resort to violence, where is Alden?"

"Can you at least refer to him by his proper title?"

"Where is Professor Alden?"

"Not here." Tabitha sighs and slams his fist into Ash's gut.

"I do not have time for games."

"I do." Ash smiles. Tabitha hits him again.

"Your smart mouth is going to bring you a lot of pain."

"But you still won't get what you're after." Ash says, his grin widening.

"I have a good idea of where he's gone, I just want confirmation. However I'll just go with my first thought. Third question, how is it that you are in a room with two legendaries?"

"Luck." Tabitha hits him for a fourth time.

"No-one gets that much luck."

"Call it fate then." Ash coughs. Tabitha turns away, trying to stay calm.

"Come on out, Mightyena! Bite this boys leg until he tells us how he was in a room with two legendary pokemon." The Mightyena chomps down on Ash's leg, tearing through the skin.

"Aaarrrggghh!" Ash cries out.

'ASH!' A voice pierces his mind.

'Latias?'

'Yes, it's me. What's happening? I feel pain from you."

'I'm not telling the Magma commander how you two where in a room with me, so his Mightyena is biting my leg.'

'We're coming back to help you guys.'

'No! It'll make it easier for them to catch you.'

'Not if we're invisible.'

'They also have dark type pokemon, psychic moves won't work on them.'

'I don't care what you say Ash, we are helping. I love you and I won't leave you there in pain.'

'And I love you too Latias, don't come and save me. I'll be fine.' Latias cuts the connection as Ash screams again in agony.

"ASH! Tell them. Tell them how they were in a room with you." Misty shouts.

"NO!" Ash cries out, "I will not betray them. No amount of pain will get me to talk."

"They'll kill you though!"

"They can't if they want to know how."

"Actually, we can. There were more than just you in that room. We could kill you and then start to torture the rest of them, until we get the answer, and by the sounds of it, it'll be more of a success getting the information out of them than you."

"Then why don't you." Ash says, holding back tears.

"Move onto the next leg Mightyena. You saved them. I know a little about those two and Latias has the ability to feel other people's emotions and as you saved her, she'll feel more inclined to come back and help you more than the others." They Mightyena goes to bite Ash's other leg, but a force knocks into it, knocking it into the front desk.

"What?!" Tabitha cries.

"It's the legendary pokemon! They're back!" Grunt 4 shouts.

"Fan out to the edge of the room and aim attacks at the opposite walls. This way we cover as much of this room as possible." Tabitha calls. However, as he tries to move, a force keeps him in place. "Why can't I move?"

"Did you forget their type?" Ash smirks, throwing a pokeball into the air. Out of the pokeball, his Charizard stands.

**"WHO WANTS TO BATTLE?"**

"Charizard, use flamethrower on the Magma's pokemon. Pikachu, use thunder on them too." Ash says weakly, before falling unconscious.

**"Right on Ash!"** Charizard replies, letting loose a stream of fire at the nearest Mightyena.

"Fight back Mightyena! Houndoom! All of you use dark pulse!" Tabitha shouts. They open their mouths, shooting the dark energy at Pikachu and Charizard. Charizard retaliates with a flamethrower, countering two of the dark pulses. Pikachu, dodges the ones fires at him and unleashes a thunder at another two, fainting them instantly.

While this is going on, Latias turns visible next to Ash. She lifts his limp body and carries him out of the room to a medical room where she lays him down. She then falls to the floor and starts to cry.

Meanwhile, back in the entrance room, Charizard turns up the power of his flamethrower, forcing the dark pulse back, flames enveloping the Mightyena's, causing two more to faint. Two remain, cowering in the corner.

"Fight Mightyena! Use swagger!" Grunt 3 calls. Both Mightyena's use swagger, causing Charizard to become confused. Charizard releases flamethrowers in all directions, one hitting Latios, breaking his hold on the Magma members.

"Fall back. Let's leave them her and move out to the ruins!" Tabitha calls out. They all return their pokemon and run out of the pokemon centre.

'Why did you attack me?' Latios asks Charizard angrily.

**"Where's the enemy?"** Charizard shouts and releases another loose flamethrower.

'Stop firing off your attacks! No-one here is your enemy.'

**"Where are they? Don't"** A red light envelopes Charizard as he is sucked back into his pokeball.

'Why did he attack me?' Latios asks Brock, who was holding Charizard's ball.

"He was confused by Mightyena's swagger. He couldn't tell friend from foe."

'Oh, I was so focused on holding the Magma member, I wasn't following the battle.'

"Where's Ash?" Misty asks, looking around worringly.

'Latias took him to another room to get him out of harm's way. Get Nurse Joy and let's go to him.'

"I'll do it!" Brock declares.

"Oh no. I will get her." Misty glares at Brock as his shoulders sag. Misty walks back to the group of people, most in awe of seeing Latios in the pokemon centre. A flash comes from Bianca's belt as Umbreon appears.

**"Pikachu!" **She cries, looking around. She spots him next to Latios and tackles him to the ground. **"I'm so glad you're alright."**

**"Yeah, those Houndoom and Mightyena's were no problem."** Pikachu laughs.

**"I'm just glad you're not hurt."** Umbreon replies, kissing Pikachu, causing him to blush.

"I've got Nurse Joy." Misty says, "And don't bother trying to flirt Brock."

"Where is he? He took quite a beating."

'This way.' Latios leads the group to Ash's room where Latias was now floating next to Ash's bed. Also in the room is all of Ash's pokemon; Eevee, Phanpy, Quilava and Growlithe. Phanpy and Quilava are sitting on the floor while Eevee lies on Ash's chest and Growlithe sits by Ash's feet. They all turn to see who enters the room. Nurse Joy ushers the pokemon off the bed and checks Ash over, seeing to his stomach and gut area, where he took the most of the beating. Already showing on his skin are purple blotches.

"He has suffered some internal bleeding that seems to have healed surprisingly quickly and some bruises. Apart from that he'll be fine." As Nurse Joy says that, Ash opens his eyes and sits up quickly.

"Where are they?"

"Ash, take it easy. You've just recovered from fainting. The Magma members have made their way up to the ruins." Bianca says, pushing Ash back down.

"No, we need to help out Alden." Ash says, getting out of bed and staggering out of the room, his pokemon and Latias following closely behind.

"Same old Ash. Always thinking of others first." Misty says, shaking her head, as the others also follow Ash.

'Take it easy Ash.' Latias pleads.

"Every second we waste is time that Team Magma can do whatever they want to do to the ruins and Alden. They have to be stopped."

'You can barely walk Ash, at least let me help you.' Latias replies, putting her head under his arm, so his arm is over her shoulder.

"Thanks." Ash says, kissing Latias on the cheek quickly, as they make their way out of the pokemon centre and up to Oldale Ruins.

* * *

**A bit shorter than my recent chapters but I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless. Also please keep posting the pokemon you want to feature in Ash's, Bianca's, Misty's and Brock's team. K9wolf369**


	16. Ruins

**A couple of things before you read. Firstly, I'm going to put a four polls up which will have various pokemon that you want to see Ash, Bianca, Brock and Misty have on their travels, plus some others and secondly, the Eevee poll:**

**Eevee, Vaporeon and Flareon – 0, Leafeon – 1, Jolteon, Sylveon, Umbreon, Glaceon – 2, Espeon – 4**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon or any of the characters in this story except Rob. And maybe Cedar as I got the name wrong. Nah, I don't own him. This goes for every chapter gone and that I will post. It'll save me from doing it every chapter.**

* * *

**Ruins**

Alden is at the Oldale Ruins, studying the outside to try and gain more information onhow to get to inside when he is pulled back sharply.

"Hey! What are you doing?" He cries.

"We're here to gain access to the ruins." Tabitha says.

"Team Magma!?"

"Yes. We need you to open the ruins for us otherwise we'll start to force our way inside."

"I can't open the ruins. Four orbs are needed to be placed into the indentations."

"You mean these orbs." Tabitha smiles, holding out the four coloured orbs.

"How did you get these? They're meant to be lost." Alden says astounded.

"We have some friends in high places. Now open the door."

"I won't do it." Alden says sternly.

"No? Well then, we'll put them in any order and if it isn't correct, what'll happen to the ruins?"

"You wouldn't? The ceiling would collapse meaning all valuable data about pokemon's past will be destroyed."

"And we both don't want that to happen. However, Team Magma don't necessarily need the information inside here and will be perfectly happy to let the ruins crumble. But you do want the information. So open the door or all information will be lost." Alden grimaces, knowing he's lost. He takes the orbs one at a time, placing them carefully into the door. The red orb in the top left, green in the top right, blue at the bottom and yellow in the middle. The door rumbles and moves into the ruins, allowing access to the inside.

"Wow, this is amazing." Alden gasps, looking inside the ruins.

"Tie him up outside until we've finished in here." Tabitha tells Grunt 3.

"On it Commander."

"The rest of us will get information from the ruins on Lord Groudon and Lady Kyogre."

"Hey, let me go in too. I want to start my research straight away." Alden cries in vain.

"Sorry professor but once we're done here, we'll have to destroy these ruins."

"What?!"

"We can't have Team Aqua to get the same information as us now can we."

"But you can't destroy priceless information on the past!"

"We can and will, no shut up or I'll get my Mighytena to do it – permanently." Alden gulps and stays quiet as two Team Magma Grunts take pictures and write down notes of everything inside the cave, while another two start to set up the explosives.

"We have all the information recorded Commander."

"Explosives are ready to blow with a ten minute countdown – enough time to get out of range of the blast radius."

"Good, now let's get out of here."

"Stop where you are!" A voice shouts out.

"Huh?" Tabitha says, turning to see a boy with black, scruffy hair and a cap, walking up the hill with a Latias supporting him. His Pikachu was walking by his side. "Look who we have here. You come to join us?"

"Never. I've come to stop you from getting away with whatever you've done or are doing."

"Ash! They're going to blow up the ruins!" Alden cries.

"Silence you. Yes, we've set up some charges, but you can't stop it from going off. You should get out of here like we are or you'll die."

"We won't let you get away with this."

"I don't want to fight here. Maybe a few miles away. Then we will take Latias and be on our way."

"You'll never take her. She is a free legendary. Every legendary pokemon should be free and I won't let you take her."

"I don't think you're in any position to stop us. Mightyena, use crunch." The Mightyena leaps forward, aiming for Latias.

"Thunder."

**"Stay back doggy."** Pikachu says, releasing a bolt of lightning, hitting the Mightyena in mid-air, throwing it backwards. The Mightyena gets back onto its feet, madder than before.

"Everyone! Pokemon!" Tabitha shouts. The grunts throw their pokeballs, Houndoom's and Mightyena's growling at Ash and Pikachu. "5 v 1. You have no hope kid. Give it up."

"I'm not alone." Ash smiles. From behind trees, Misty, Brock, Bianca, May and Latios appear, surrounding the Magma members. Tabitha puts a hand to his ear,

"We need back up. Get to our coordinates ASAP. There is a Latios and a Latias here." Tabitha waits for a few seconds before speaking again, "We can hold out for five minutes – just. The bomb is set to go off in 8. Everyone, attack!" Houndoom's use flamethrower and Mightyena's send out dark pulses.

"Take cover!" Ash cries, throwing himself and Latias to the floor. "Eevee, I choose you!"

"Torchic, come on out!"

"Geodude, I choose you!"

"Gyarados, come on out!"

"Cyndaquil, let's go!" All the pokemon burst from their balls, all ready to battle.

"Commander, there's too many of them."

"We have to hold out. Keep on the offensive." Tabitha calls out, "Mightyena, use quick attack on Eevee!"

"Mightyena, use dark pulse on Gyarados!" Grunt 1 calls out.

"Houndoom, use night slash on Torchic!" Grunt 2 shouts.

"Houndoom, use take down on Cyndaquil!" Grunt 3 bellows.

"Mightyena, use crunch on Geodude!" Grunt 4 barks.

"Eevee, use dig!"

"Gyarados, use flamethrower!"

"Geodude, use rock throw!"

"Torchic, use ember!"

"Cyndaquil, use smokescreen!"

'We'll take care of the explosives Ash.' Latios says, as he and Latias turn invisible and go into the ruins.

"Come back here Latios and Latias! Or are you two to cowardly?" Tabitha roars.

"Now Eevee!" Ash cries, struggling to stand as Eevee erupts from the ground, slamming into Mightyena's stomach, sending it flying upwards. "Now use Shadow ball!" The attack hit the falling Mightyena, sending it into a tree.

"Come on Mightyena, I know you can still battle – use double team, followed by Shadow ball!"

"Eevee, copy the Mightyena and disappear." Copies of each pokemon started to appear and fire off shadow balls at all the decoys. Eventually, one Mightyena remained with Eevee nowhere in sight.

"Where did it go?"

"To the skies Eevee!" Eevee once again, bursts forth from the ground, sending Mightyena flying again. "use agility to get in close let loose with shadow ball!" Eevee closed the gap to where the Mightyena was falling helplessly and fired off a round of attacks, knocking it out.

"No! This is not the end! My Grunts can continue and I have a second pokemon."

"Look around, they're being defeatd pretty easily." Tabitha surveyed the clearing. Misty's Gyarados uses a hyper beam, Brock's Geodude uses seismic toss, May's Torchic uses peck, Bianca's Cyndaquil uses tackle combined with ember. Every one of them taking down the Grunt's pokemon. A sound, like rotors spinning, can be heard and getting closer.

"It doesn't matter know. We have reinforcements and you guys won't be able to get out of the blast radius in time. I suppose Latias and Latios had the right idea of getting out while they still could."

"They didn't leave." Ash replies calmly, placing his hands on two invisible beings at either side of him. Latias and Latios both become visible, supporting the still weak Ash.

"Well then, we shall capture them then." Tabitha smiles. Out of nowhere, a net fires at Latias, knocking her back and trapping her. An electric charge is sent through the net, causing her to cry out in pain.

"Latias!" Ash and Latios rush to her side and try to untangle her.

"It's no use." Another net flies from the clouds and is about to hit Latios when Latias pushes both of them out the way and takes a second net, and another round of electricity.

'Looks like I returned the favour.' Latias says, smiling weakly at the two when the electricity stops. A helicopter emerges from the clouds and fires ropes to the ground near Latias. Tabitha and the Grunts run over to her and attach the ropes to the nets and tug on them. They all start to rise towards the helicopter as it turns round and starts to fly off.

"Latias! Give her back!" Ash screams, as he starts to run after them. He picks up speed and ends up below the net. He jumps up to grab the net but the net was just out of his reach.

'I've got her Ash!" Latios cries, speeding ahead of the helicopter and turning to face it. He opens his mouth and releases a flamethrower. The helicopter pulls sharply to one side, missing the flamethrower by inches. It then releases another net and this time it hits Latios, sending him to the ground.

'Brother! Ash!' Latias cries, tears streaming down her face.

"We will get you Latias!" Ash bellows out to her. He runs to Latios and with the help of Pikachu and Eevee, who were clinging onto Ash, they free Latios. By this time, the rest of the group have caught up.

"Ash, we're so sorry." Misty says, close to tears.

"Don't be Misty. I'm still going to get her back." Ash says, harshly.

"Ash you could barely move earlier. How do you expect to go after her?" Bianca asks

"By any means necessary." Ash replies. He starts to run and pulls a pokeball from his belt, sending out his Charizard. Charizard flies next to Ash and with Eevee and Pikachu on his shoulders, he jumps onto Charizards back and they fly off in pursuit of the helicopter.

"I hope he knows what he's doing." Misty whispers.

'Don't worry, I'll follow.' Latios says, steadily levitating and flying off after Ash.

"Let's go into Oldale and see if we can get a lift with Officer Jenny. She'll want to catch these crooks and so we can go along with her." Brock smiles.

"Ok, but if you think you can get off with her, I will put you in hospital for the next few days." Misty replies, pulling out her mallet.

"OK" Brock gulps. They return their pokemon and run towards the police station in Oldale.

From the shadows a figure emerges with blond hair and blue eyes. _'I thought she was different. I never would've guessed that a Latios would be with them too though. I wonder what they'd be worth?'_ Rob thinks to himself. He's about to follow Misty, Brock, May and Bianca when he hears a voice.

"Is anyone still here? Can someone untie me please?" _'Alden'_ Rob shakes his head and helps Alden from his bonds.

In the helicopter Tabitha was talking to Maxie via video chat.

"We've got all the information from the ruins Boss. We didn't blow it up since it was disarmed by the two legendary pokemon – Latias and Latios."

"What! You didn't blow it up?! Now Team Aqua can gain access to the same information as us." Maxie replies angrily.

"Don't worry sir. They don't have a certain legendary that we do."

"What do you mean?"

"We've captured Latias, one of the pokemon who stopped our bomb from going off."

"Excellent. Bring her back to Headquarters immediately. We can use her for many different tasks."

"We're on our way. We should be there in 7 hours."

"Good work Tabitha." Maxie says, cutting the connection.

_'This is great. I've now shown how useful I am. Now I should get more respect than Courtney or Blaise.'_

"We have two dots on our radar Commander." The pilot says, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Lose them in the clouds."

"We've tried. They're still following us."

"Send out a drone to see who's following us." Tabitha says to a Grunt. A small spherical device exited the helicopter from a small hatch and the Grunt sent it to scout out what is behind.

"They won't give up, will they." Tabitha says annoyed, as the screen shows Ash on Charizard's back with Latios a little behind them. "Send out some attack drones." The Grunt pushes some buttons and more drones exit the helicopter. They fly above the pair, unseen by them. They descend quickly and send out electrice charges, hitting both pokemon. Tabitha smiles.

"Don't worry about them Pilot, they won't be a problem." He turns to Latias, "Your friends won't give up and are going to be shocked out of the sky. I would tell them to back off if I were you, otherwise they'll get severely injured." Latias glares at him,

'Nothing will stop them. You should be afraid. Very afraid.'

"You underestimated me and my Team, Latias."

'You underestimate my family and friends.'

"We'll see" Tabitha smiles as he turns back to the console. His smile vanishes. All the attack drones were gone. Ash points to the scout drone and Eevee fires a shadow ball at it, making the screen show snow. (the static when a TV doesn't work is sometimes called snow)

'How's it going.' Latias says, hinting at a smile.

"Get two people to man the net cannons. Get more drones out there too." Tabitha barks. The grunts all start going about their jobs. The screen comes back online and it shows the two of them dodging nets and electricity. They started to lose ground on the helicopter with all the distractions. Tabitha's smile creeps back onto his face. The two seemingly overwhelmed with all the attacks. "Pilot, time to hide again."

"Yes sir."

"Turn off all lights and call back the net cannons. They shouldn't be able to find us now."

'You're a fool.'

"And why would that be?"

'They'll always find you with me on board.'

"This helicopter is supressing your powers, and any attempt of contact from outside of the helicopter."

'And still they'll find me.'

"I fail to see how."

'Go have a look then.' Latias says weakly before falling unconscious from a lack of energy. Tabitha walks over to the console and again, it shows all of the drones gone and both pokemon flying strong.

"They're back on the radar. We can't shake them." Pilot calls out.

"Full speed ahead. We'll have to use the cannons again." Tabitha growls.

"They're gaining quickly sir. We won't be able to out-speed them."

THUD. The helicopter lurches forward from the hit.

"What was that?" Tabitha cries out.

"One of them hit the back of the helicopter sir."

"Shot them down! I don't care what with, just do it." The helicopter engine starts to splutter and begins to fall.

"We're losing altitude quickly and have no control sir."

"There's something on the outside of the helicopter as well. It's moving towards the hatch."

"Come on out Golbat." Tabitha says. "I need a few more with their pokemon out too." Three more grunts send out their pokemon; a Mightyena, Houndoom and a Baltoy surround the entrance to the helicopter.

"It's dropping down onto the outer step outside the door."

"Get ready guys."

"INCOMING!" Pilots shouts. The opposite side to the door starts to melt away as Charizard uses flamethrower.

"It was a decoy. Get ready!" Tabitha calls, turning to the melting side. The door to the helicopter is thrown open as Ash bursts inside.

"NOW!" He cries as Pikachu and Eevee let loose with a shadow ball and thunder at two of the pokemon. "Growlithe, use flamethrower and Quilava use smokescreen to cover us." Ash yells, tossing two pokeballs into the air.

"Golbat, use air slash!" Tabitha calls. The attacks collide in mid –air and the cabin fills up with thick black smoke.

"Latios, get us out of here!" Ash cries.

"Block the door!" Tabitha coughs.

"Growlithe, Eevee return." Ash calls. "Quilava, keep up the smokescreen and run to Charizard!"

"Stop them!"

"We can't see anything sir. We don't know where they are."

"We're still losing altitude too." The smoke clears and Tabitha looks out the door to see Latios holding Ash and Pikachu with Latias on his back, descending quickly to the ground, due to too much weight. A Charizard with a Quilava on its back flies over the helicopter to the four and helps carry Latias to the ground.

Tabitha turns round and runs to the cockpit,

"You need to get us out of here."

"We can't sir. The electronics have been fried."

"What!?"

"Prepare for impact!" Pilot shouts as the helicopter hits the ground, sliding along, mowing down trees. The helicopter comes to a stop and Tabitha jumps out of it.

"Everyone out. We need to disperse and get back to HQ quickly. If anyone gets caught, you know what to do." Tabitha calls as everyone climbs from the wreckage and they all run off.

Back with Ash, Latias and Latios, they have landed with little damage taken thanks to Charizard helping them before they hit the ground.

"Latias, are you ok?" Ash says, laying her on the ground.

'Yes. Thank you for rescuing me.' She smiles. This made Ash smile and hug her tight.

"I thought I lost you."

'I knew you would come and get me.'

"I would never have rested until I had you back." Ash sniffles, causing Latias to blush slightly.

'I would've done the same thing. You helped bring me back to life, so I had to help return the favour and get you back too. I also thank you for taking the net for me sis.'

'You did the same for me back in Altomare brother, I was returning the favour.'

"Right. No more talking. You need to sleep. You're exhausted."

'What about the others?'

"Don't worry Latias. We'll meet up again. The most important thing is that you get rest."

'Ok. Thank you again, both of you.' Latias sighs, drifting off to sleep. Ash and Latios watch her for a while before Latios breaks the silence.

'We need to tell her about your recent development.'

"I know. I was going to wait until we were all together and then tell them what happened."

'Hopefully that'll be tomorrow.'

"Yeah. Hopefully. I'm going to sleep too. Do you mind keeping watch?"

'No worries Ash. I've got it covered.'

"Thanks. Come on out Eevee and Growlithe."

**"Are there more of them Ash?"** Growlithe asks.

"Don't worry Growlithe, I called you two out to sleep with Latias and I to keep us all warmer."

**"Of course Ash."** The two pokemon lay on top of Ash and Latias and all of them fall asleep with ease after an arduous day.

Latios stays awake and reaches out with his mind to try and find where the others are. He picks up Bianca's thoughts three hours later.

'Bianca, where are you?'

'Latios? Thank god. We've been looking for ages now. We're walking up a hill at the moment.'

'I know where you are. If you get to the top of it, you'll see a small bunch of trees. We're in the middle of it.'

'Ok, I've told the others. We're on our way and will be there soon.'

'Great. See you soon.' Latios cuts the connection and flies up and looks towards the hill. When he sees some people at the top, he turns invisible and drops back down to where Ash and Latias are sleeping. Half an hour later, the group arrive, without Officer Jenny.

"Latios? Where are you?" He turns visible and smiles at the group.

'Am I glad that you're here. Those two were so tired they fell asleep quickly and I can barely stay awake.'

"No worries Latios. I'll watch if everyone else wants to sleep." Bianca replies.

"I'll stay awake too." Misty says. They all took out their sleeping bags and lie down to rest except for Bianca and Misty who collect wood for a fire. While they were away, a lone figure entered the clearing. He stares at Latias.

_'She's beautiful. Ash is a lucky guy. They should be more careful though. They're in between Oldale and Petalburg and a lot of trainers pass through here looking for weak opponents. They'll snap at the chance to catch her. Or him for that matter. I too would like her for myself. I'll have to try and meet with them by 'accident' and I'll get her then. For now, I'll keep look out from the trees with my pokemon. We'll stop anyone from getting to them.'_ His head snaps round as he hears two girls talking. _'Time to go.'_ He moves swiftly and silently away from the group and into the trees the opposite way.

The next morning the group wake and eat breakfast. While they eat, Ash tells of how they got Latias back.

"The helicopter sent out little spheres that started to shoot electricity at us. It wasn't hurting Latios so much, more annoying him. But Charizard got hurt badly from them. We destroyed the first set of them and continued on. They then set more out at us and shot nets at us. This caused us to slow down dramatically and very soon we couldn't see the helicopter as it had turned of all the lights and it was hiding in the clouds. We were struggling against these drones and I got really angry. I've never felt this angry before and I screamed. When I opened my eyes, all the drones had been destroyed. From there, Charizard let me get on the side of the helicopter while he flew around the other side. He used flamethrower on one side as I entered the other and rescued Latias."

"Ash, what did you do when you screamed?"

"Latios, can you explain."

'Of course. Ash's anger caused him to release a psychic blast that destroyed every drone in it's radius. This is most probably another power that he has developed. If he trains, he'll be able to control the psychic power he now holds. Emotions are connected to the psychic powers and it can be unpredictable if you don't know how to control it. This is why, when Ash was angry, he released a psychic blast. It was full of bitterness and determination, but also had another element in there that stopped him from destroying everything in a five mile radius – Love. His love for Latias made the radius only 500 metres and it only destroyed what he wanted. Without it, we wouldn't be here.'

"That's amazing. Do you have the same type of power Latios?" Bianca asks.

'No. My power is a lot stronger than his. His power is still devastating and we'll work on controlling it. For now, just don't show too many negative emotions.' Latios says, looking at Ash.

"I'll try. Now that Latias is here, it'll be a lot easier." He says, causing her to blush and giggle. He kisses her on the cheek and the girls all "awww".

"We should go back to Oldale ruins and see if Alden is alright." Brock says, standing up and slinging his backpack over his shoulder.

"Right, let's go then" Bianca replies, putting her satchel over her shoulder. The group spend part of the morning walking back to Oldale town and get to the ruins by midday with Latias as Sakura and Latios invisible. They get to the ruins and May calls out,

"Professor Alden!" Alden emerges from the ruins and smiles when he sees them.

"Thank you so very much for saving the ruins. I can't thank you enough."

"No problem Alden. They shouldn't be destroyed when you can learn a lot from them."

"I know. However I am a bit annoyed that you left me tied up."

"Sorry. We had a… situation we had to deal with and it was very urgent." Ash replies, looking at Sakura.

"How did you get out of your bonds?" Brock asks.

"A boy was in the vicinities at the time and he heard me yell for help. He used a Grovyle to cut me loose."

"A Grovyle huh." Says, pulling out his pokedex and listening to what it says. "it looks like a pretty cool pokemon."

"It was very well trained but the trainer was distracted by something."

"Oh well. At least you're free. Can we have a look inside the ruins?"

"Of course, I actually wanted to show you this." Alden smiles and walks inside. "This is the first chamber which Team Magma investigated and recorded data on. It's fascinating. Groudon and Kyogre are the legendary pokemon who created the sea and land. They had a terrible fight that destroyed a lot of pokemon and people. A lot of people already know that bit, but what I found out was that the fight was based just outside Oldale on Route 1. People who saw the events also recorded seeing a green dragon pokemon fly down from the heavens and stop the fighting between the two pokemon. He caused the two of them to go into a deep sleep, thus saving everyone."

"That's amazing!" Misty says stunned.

"Isn't it. And I discovered it! Also, it doesn't end there. What I really wanted to see isn't in this chamber. I pushed on the door and it moved further in, revealing these stairs. These stairs are the passage between our world and the ancient world." Alden says excitedly, ushering for them to go down the stairs. They walked down and came to a small lake with pokemon swimming in.

"Who's that pokemon?" Bianca asks, pulling her pokedex out.

"Relicanth. A pokemon that was once believed to be extinct. The species has not changed its form for 100 million years. It walks on the seafloor using its pectoral fins."

"That's amazing. A pokemon that hasn't changed for 100 million years!"

"It really is a gateway to the ancient world." Brock smiles.

"Indeed. Now I must get back to work. Lots of information to write down, lots of important calls to other professors I must make." Alden says giddily, running out of the second chamber.

"This is amazing." Bianca says, rapidly drawing the Relicanth.

'That it is.' Sakura replies.

"As much as it is quite cool, we should get going. I want to get a gym badge."

"Is that all you can think about Ash?"

"Seeing this makes me want to know what other pokemon are here in the Hoenn region and the best way to do that is to go outside and walk on to Petalburg town and battle the gym leader and pokemon on the way there."

"Before we go, we should head to the pokemon centre and have lunch." Brock says.

"Great idea Brock! Let's go!" Ash says, walking up the stairs.

"He can be so impatient." Bianca sighs.

'Yeah, but I still love him.' Sakura replies, and with that, the group exit the ruins, saying bye to Alden and head to Oldale town.

* * *

**Remember to answer the poll on favourite pokemon and I know some of you will be annoyed but I haven't been on Fanfiction long and only just realised there was a poll option. Thank you for the continued support and take care. K9greywolf369.**


	17. Ch17 - Swarm

**Swarm**

The group are walking out of Oldale town and onto Route 2, heading towards Petalburg and Ash's first gym challenge.

"I'm so psyched about my first gym battle, I can hardly wait!" Ash exclaims.

"We still have to get through Route 2 first Ash, and it could take the whole day." Brock replies.

"Oh, I was hoping it wouldn't take too long to get there."

"Cheer up Ash, we can find more new pokemon here." Bianca says.

"But finding pokemon and battling a gym are too entirely different things with a big excitement difference."

"Stop your complaining Ash. If it will take a day to get there, it'll take a day to get there. There's nothing you can do about it."

"I know that Misty. No need to talk to me like I'm stupid. I could actually get there quicker, but I don't want to leave you guys. I just need a way to make it more fun."

"Why do I not like the sound of that?" Bianca asks.

"Because it's Ash." Misty states. A pebble lifts off the ground behind the group and hits Misty in the back of the head. "Ow! Who did that?" She exclaims.

"Who did what?" Brock asks.

"Someone through a stone at the back of my head." She replies, rubbing where the stone hit her head.

"I can't see anyone behind us." Ash says, smiling to himself.

"Come on, let's carry on. Maybe it got picked up by the wind and caught you."

"The wind is blowing very strongly though Brock."

"Let's just go shall we." So the group continue along the path.

'Ash.'

'Yes Sakura.'

'She'll work it out soon.'

'It's fun though.'

'You shouldn't do it.'

'Why not? She always degrades me with whatever I say, so I'm getting some subtle payback.' Ash smiles as he picks up another stone and fires it at Misty's head.

"OW!" Misty cries, "Another stone."

"How can stones just fly up and hit you in the back of the head?" Ash says, still smiling.

"They don't. Which means an external source is interfering with it." Misty snaps.

"Calm down Misty. How about we stop here and you lot can scout the area to see if anyone is following us while I make some snacks."

"I agree with Brock, the lake is a great spot to do some sketching." Bianca says, setting her bag down and pulling out her sketchbook.

"Fine. I'll take a look around the area to see if anyone is following us." Misty grumbles.

'I'll help by searching the sky Misty.' Latios says.

"Thanks Latios." Once the two have left, Bianca pipes up.

"Was it you Ash?"

"What do you mean?"

"Was it you throwing the stones at Misty?"

"How could I? I was in front of Misty, not behind her."

"She has a point Ash. Did you use your powers to do it?"

"What! That's…. That's ludicrous. I would never to such a thing." Ash exclaims.

"Come on Ash. It happened right after you two had an argument. Plus I know you've been practising your psychic powers with Latias and Latios."

"Fine, I did it. What has it got to do with you?"

"Misty has a bad temper and I personally don't want to be on the receiving end of it."

"I agree with Brock. I've only been with you guys for a short time and I know Misty can get out of hand."

"Fine. I won't do it again, as long as you don't tell her it was me."

"Deal." They all sit in silence until Latios and Misty get back.

"Any sign of the thrower?" Ash asks.

"None." Misty replies.

"Hey, no need to worry anymore, we have snacks." Ash says, holding up cheese and crackers and stuffing them into his mouth. "Tey're reary good."

'You shouldn't speak with a mouth full of food Ash.' Sakura says, eating one herself. Ash shrugs and shovels more into his mouth.

"I sometimes wonder what you'd do without me." Brock sighs.

"I'm not really that hungry. I'll go for a swim in the lake." Misty says, walking behind a bush. She emerges moments later and dives into the lake.

"Maybe we should stay here for lunch too then."

"That's a good idea Brock; I can get more sketching done."

"I was really hoping that we could get to Petalburg by tonight." Ash moans.

"We still may be able to, it would just be extremely late, that's all."

"Don't worry, we'll camp out nearer town and I'll get my badge hopefully by the afternoon. For now, let's enjoy the lake." Ash replies, pulling out his pokeballs. "Come on out everyone!"

"You three come out too!" Bianca cries.

"Come on out Torchic!"

"Now let's go and have fun in the lake!" Ash cries, running behind a bush and comes out less than a minute later in his trunks. He dives into the lake, quickly followed by Pikachu, Eevee and Umbreon. They all play until Bianca spots something in the distant.

"Guys, what's that over there?" She says, pointing across the lake.

"I don't know. It seems to be gliding across the top of the water."

'They are. There are also a lot of them.'

"Latios, do you know what they are?"

'From what I've heard, they are called Surskit.' Ash pulls out his pokedex.

"Surskit, pond skater pokemon. It appears as if it is skating on water. It draws prey from a sweet scent from the tip of head."

"Why do I like it but dislike this pokemon at the same time?" Misty asks.

"It's a bug/water type pokemon Misty."

"What! What do I do? I love water pokemon but I hate bug type pokemon. I want to have this pokemon but I feel like squealing if it ever comes near me. Ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod, what do I do?"

"Calm down Misty. Just treat it as one type, not two." Ash replies.

"How can I? It's like saying forget Charizard's a flying type, it's only fire."

"When you put it like that…"

'We should be worrying more about the machine that's following the Surskit more than Misty's problem right now.' Latios says.

"What is that machine?"

'I don't know, but it looks like it's trying to capture those pokemon. We need to help them.'

"Agreed, but how? We can't move quickly in water."

**"But I can fly, as can Latios."**

"Ok, Pikachu and Eevee come with me. Growlithe, Quilava and Phanpy stay here. If you fall, you could drown."

"I'll come along on Latios." Bianca says, Umbreon at her side."

'OK, let's hurry. Brock, Misty, Sakura, look after the rest of the pokemon and any Surskit that make it across.'

"Will do, now hurry." They speed off across the lake and toward the swarm and to the machine. As they get closer, they see a big red R on the machine, showing it to be Team Rocket's.

"Team Rocket! Stop this!" Ash cries. The machine has wheels and an inflatable airbag around the base, allowing it to move on water. It also has four arms out of the sides, two holding a dustpan and brush, another with a hoover and the fourth empty. "Pikachu, use thunder."Pikachu releases his attack, hitting the machine and doing nothing. Laughter is heard from the inside.

"This machine's bodywork cannot be affected by any attacks." James says smugly.

"Dat means you twerps ain't gonna be anyting to us." Meowth laughs.

"Come on. Let's gather up the Surskit and them at the same time." Jessie says. The hoover and free hands snake after Charizard and Latios.

"Umbreon, use shadow ball."

"Pikachu, you use thunder again. Charizard use flamethrower." The attacks streak towards the arms and explode against them, creating a lot of smoke. The arms, however, burst from the smoke and almost catch/hoover the two of them. This distraction helps the Surskit gain some distance from the machine and turn around and fire off their own attacks of bubble, bubblebeam, and water sport.

"Don't they realise that it won't do anything?"

"Well by the looks of it, no James, they don't. Let's get back to catching them then, instead of the twerps." Jessie replies.

"Right." The machine's hands stop going for Latios and Charizard and aim for the surskit once more.

"Get out of here Surskit!" Bianca cries.

'We need to immobilise that machine.'

"How? No attacks will have an effect."

'Not on the bodywork. Aim for the wheels and

the airbags.'

"Right, Pikachu, use thunder. Charizard, use dragon rage, Eevee use shadow ball."

"Umbreon, use psychic on the wheels beneath the machine to stop it from moving." Umbreon's eyes glow and the machine comes to a halt. Pikachu, Eevee and Charizard then use their attacks at the base of the machine, causing the airbags to burst.

"What's going on?"

"Da wheels won't move and da airbags have burst." Meowth replies.

"Meowth, keep the machine running, James and I will attack the twerps."

"You got it." Jessie and James open the hatch in the top of the machine and throw their pokeballs into the air.

"Go, Weezing, use sludge bomb!"

"Go, Arbok, use poison sting!"

"No!" Ash cries, throwing his arms out wide, creating a shield. The two attacks smash into the shield, unable to break through.

"Return fire with psychic Umbreon." Bianca calls out. Umbreon's eyes glow again as she picks up the two pokemon and slamming them into the ground.

'Ash, stop the shield, you'll waste too much energy.'

"Ok, Eevee, use agility to get to the ground quickly and use dig underneath the machine."

**"You got it Ash."** Eevee replies, jumping off Charizard's back.

"Latios, use stay this side while we go round to the opposite side."

'Good idea. Attack from two fronts. Bianca, tell Umbreon to take hold of the machine's wheels again.'

"Umbreon, we'll focuse on the machine. Hold the wheels again."

"Pikachu, use thunder on both Weezing and Arbok. When they're stunned, use seismic toss on both of them Charizard." The flame pokemon turns round a starts to fly towards the two pokemon, a streak of lightening shot from Pikachu on his head. Arbok and Weezing have no time to do anything as they're hit again. Pikachu stops the attack and Charizard grabs them both.

"Off we go Pikachu." Ash says, jumpin as Charizard grabs the two pokemon and flies high. Eevee, now!" The evolution pokemon bursts from the ground and into the underside of the machine, that was still trying to collect the Surskit, just out of reach on the lake's surface, firing their attacks again. The power from Eevee's attack tips the machine forward and into the lake.

"Let's get down there Latios." Bianca and Umbreon jump off his back and run over to Ash and Pikachu.

"Good work you three."

"Meowth's still in the machine, we should help him."

"He'll be fine." Ash replies, as Meowth breaks the surface of the water, drawing in a deep breath as he pulls himself onto land. He stands up and is immediately thrown backwards into the lake as Charizard slams Arbok and Weezing into the ground, knocking them out.

"Let's finish this." Ash says as Meowth once again, pulls himself up the bank, "Charizard, use dragon rage." The orange ball collides with Team Rocket, sending them,

"Blasting off again!"

"That solves that problem." Ash smiles as he climbs onto Charizard's back.

'Indeed. Although the Surskit have taken a liking to us.' Latios spots as they take off. Ash looks down and sees the Surskit all waiting in a cluster underneath them.

"Let's just get back to Sakura, Misty, Brock and the pokemon quickly." Charizard and Latios both fly back across the lake to where Brock has set up lunch.

"They're still following us." Bianca says, looking behind her.

'There's not a lot we can do. We'll sort out what to do when we're with the others.'

"I see you did a nice job of getting rid of it." Brock says as they land.

"It was Team Rocket again."

"That'd explain why I saw people flying off into the distance."

"We may also have attracted some followers though." Bianca says, pointing to the horde of Surskit that are skating towards them.

"What!" Misty cries.

"Calm down Misty, they're not going to harm any of us." Ash says.

"But they're water and bug type. They also look more like bugs than water pokemon." Misty hyperventilates.

'Take deep breathes Misty. You're getting worked up over something so little.'

"You don't know what it's like Latios. Keep out of this." The first of the Surskit reach the side of the lake and scuttle up towards the group, the rest following quickly.

**"I don't trust them Ash. There's too many of them to take down if they attack us."** Growlithe says, growling at the Surskit.

"I don't think they will try after what we did for them over the other side of the lake Growlithe." Ash strokes her back, trying to calm her. The Surskit all start to do a sort of dance around the group, gliding across the ground and using bubble for added beauty.

"This is brilliant. I can't believe I'm seeing this." Bianca says, drawing the dance with rapid precision.

"See Growlithe, there's nothing to worry about."

**"I suppose."** Growlithe admits, lying down beside Ash.

"Are you alright Misty?" May asks. Misty is hugging Togepi close to her chest as he waves his arms about with happiness, her eyebrow twitching. "Misty?" May asks again.

"They're… so… close." Misty stutters.

"They're only trying to say thank you Misty."

"I… don't… care…" A few Surskti then break away from the circle and dance in smaller circles around the pokemon and people. "I CAN'T TAKE IT ANY MORE!" Misty screams as she stands up and rushes back down the road the way they came.

"Well at least we don't have to tell her to calm down anymore." Ash laughs.

'Do you think she'll meet up with us again?'

"Of course she will. When we get to Petalburg, we'll phone the Oldale pokemon centre and ask for her to meet us in Petalburg if she's there. If not, we'll think of something else." The Surskit dance has now finished and they all skate away across the lake with happy cries.

"I'm so glad we helped them now."

"I'm glad you helped them too." May agrees.

"That's a great beginning to lunch." Brock says. They all eat lunch in silence, pack up and then walk on, towards Petalburg with Latios ahead of them, invisible.

"How far to go Brock?"

"Not long Ash. Once we get through the forest, you'll see Petalburg town."

"I'm so excited. My first Hoenn gym battle and badge."

"You only get a badge if you win though Ash. What if you don't?" May asks.

"Of course I'll win. I have my pokemon and they have me. There's no way we'll lose."

"My dad is no pushover though. He and his pokemon are really strong."

"Wait, your dad is the gym leader of Petalburg town?"

"You didn't know? I thought I mentioned it."

"Possibly, I don't remember if you did or not. Anyway, what type of gym is it?"

"My dad uses normal type pokemon. They are all very different and all love my dad as much as he loves them."

"That's the same as me and my pokemon."

"By the sounds of it, it'll be an interesting battle." Bianca says.

"What about you, are you going to battle too?"

"I don't know. When we got to Slateport, I heard about Pokemon Contests. They sound like my kind of thing."

"Contests?" May asks.

"Yes. From what we've been told, pokemon show off their pokemon's moves, showing their beauty, coolness, cuteness, toughness or smartness. Round 1 is a performance round were you show off these moves. The second round is a battle where you have to try and make your opponent lose points by attacking and defending. The team with the most points at the end of the time limit moves on to the next battle."

"They sound so cool. I might do that too. Although I'm not sure my dad would want me to."

"May, your dad will let you choose your own path. If he loves his pokemon as much as you say, he'll love you more. I'm certain he'll have no problems with you participating in contests." Ash smiles.

"Thanks Ash. Bianca, do you know where the first one is?"

"Uh, no. We'll have to find out where they all are when we get into Petalburg."

"Where can we find out?"

"I imagine at the pokemon centre. They always seem to have all the news from various places in each region."

"Right. Let's go there after Ash's gym battle."

"We should be reaching the end of the forest soon."

"Look, you're right Brock. There's the exit." Ash says, running on ahead. He breaks through the shade of the trees, into the sunlight. Down a small slope is Petalburg town.

'You need to stop running off like that Ash.' Sakura says, lacing her hand in his.

"I can't help it when I'm so excited about battling a gym leader." Sakura giggles as they start to walk down the slope.

**"Who are you going to use Ash?"** Pikachu asks, catching up to the two with Umbreon beside him.

"I was thinking of using Phanpy as he hasn't had a lot of battling experience with me. The same goes for Eevee. It depends on how many pokemon May's dad has. He must have at least two as she said he loves all of them."

**"That makes me think there are at least three pokemon." **Umbreon says.

"Why's that?"

'Because otherwise she would've said he loves them both, not them. Good spot Umbreon. I see why Pikachu has taken a liking to you.' Sakura smiles, causing both Pikachu and Umbreon to blush.

"If that's the case, I think I'll use you as well buddy. What do you say?"

**"Of course I will Ash. I'm always here for you."**

"Great. If he has any more, I will choose when I get there." They stop just before entering Petalburg and wait for Brock, Bianca and May.

"So which way to the gym May?" Ash asks eagerly.

"This way." May points and leads the group towards her house and Petalburg gym. They don't take long to reach the gym and they all enter.

"Mum! Dad! I'm back!" May calls out, "There's someone here for a gym battle!"

"A gym battle?" A voice says. A young boy with blue hair and glasses appears and looks around the group. "Who's challenging?"

"I am, my name's Ash Ketchum."

"I'm Max. Wait, Ash Ketchum. I've heard that name before. I know you! You participated in the Silver Conference and lost in the round of 8 to Harrison and his Blaziken."

"Yep, that's me." Ash grumbles.

"You don't stand a chance against my dad if you only reached the round of 8. Harrison only just beat dad and he lost in the round after you and possibly could've gone further if he had his Blaziken."

"Max, stop winding up him up. You never know when to take a rest do you." May says, shaking her head.

"Whatever sis. Oh, which pokemon did you get?"

"Hold on Max, where's mum and dad first. I'll show you all together."

"Right this way." Max says, running off down the corridor to the right. The enter the living room where May's parents are talking.

"May! You're back. How are you?"

"I'm fine dad. I've brought someone who wants to challenge you."

"Really? Which one of you wants to challenge me then?"

"I do. I'm Ash from Pallet Town in Kanto and this is my partner Pikachu."

"I'm Norman and this is my wife Caroline,it's good to meet you. Who else do we have here?"

"I'm Brock, a pokemon breeder."

"I'm Bianca, I'm an artist."

"And this is Sakura. She's a mute but can communicate through telepathy."

'Hello.'

"Wow, that's so cool. What's it like not being able to talk?" Max asks eagerly.

"Max, that's rude. I'm sorry about Max, he's too curious for his own good."

'Not to worry, but he asked the wrong question. I haven't been able to talk at all so I don't know what it's like to talk and therefore cannot make a comparison.'

"Oh."

"How about we head to the battle field." Norman says, gesturing for them to follow him. They reach the battlefield and Ash and Norman take their positions at opposite ends. Everyone else sit in the stands. The ref stands at the side of the battlefield.

"This is an official gym battle between Ash the challenger and Norman the gym leader. This is a 3v3 battle and it will be over when either one of the sides three pokemon are unable to battle."

'Nice call Umbreon.' Sakura says, making Umbreon smile.

"I choose you Slakoth!" Norman calls.

"I choose you Phanpy!" Ash calls. Both pokemon burst from their pokeballs and onto the field, ready to battle.

* * *

**Once the next chapter is up, Ash's first pokemon in Hoenn will be chosen. The poll is up on my page so go and choose the pokemon you want Ash to have. Also, the Eeveelution has been chosen and will be revealed in the next chapter at some point. Thanks for everyone's continued support. K9wolf369.**


	18. Balance

**Ash's first Hoenn pokemon has been picked and the next poll is open on my page. This time, it's for Bianca. Also, in this chapter you'll see the Eeveelution that got the most votes in my review/PM poll. Now, on with the battle.**

"Speech"

**"pokespeech"**

'Telepathy'

_'Character thoughts'_

(A/N)

* * *

**Balance**

"Slakoth, the slacker pokemon. If it eats just three leaves a day, it is satisfied. Other than that, it sleeps for 20 hours a day."

"That doesn't seem like a very strong pokemon."

"Looks can be deceiving Ash. I'll let you go first."

"Ok, Phanpy use rollout!" The small elephant curled into a ball and rolled at the Slakoth.

"Dodge it Slakoth." Norman says calmly. Phanpy closes the gap rapidly and just before contact is made, Slakoth rolls to one side, dodging the attack.

"What?!" Ash exclaims.

"I told you that looks are deceiving. Now my turn. Use Shadow ball Slakoth!" The purple ball is fired and collides with the stunned Phanpy.

"Phanpy! I believe in you Phanpy, use rollout again!" The blue elephant picks himself up and rolls towards the Slakoth again.

"Stop it with blizzard!" Norman shouts. Slakoth opens it's mouth and fires a flurry of snow at the oncoming Phanpy. The two moves collide and create a grey smoke. It quickly clears to show a fainted Phanpy.

"Phanpy is unable to battle!" The ref calls.

"You did your best Phanpy. Thank you." Ash says, returning his pokemon.

"Yeah, go dad! This is a piece of cake for you!" Max cheers from the stands.

"I wouldn't put it past Ash to still win this." Brock says, sitting with his arms crossed.

"However he is at a disadvantage with one less pokemon."

"That is true, but I've known Ash longer than anyone else here."

"I choose you, Eevee!"

**"Let's go!"** He cries.

"Let's start this quickly with multiple shadow balls!"

"Counter that with Blizzard!" Norman replies. The dark orbs and snow collide creating a thicker smoke than before as the moves cancel each other out.

"Now Eevee!"

"What?" Eevee breaks out from the ground and sends Slakoth flying from a powerful dig.

"Follow up with another shadow ball!"

"Protect Slakoth!" The shadow balls collide against the shield, unable to penetrate it. "Quickly Slakoth, use hidden power!" Slakoth cut off the shield as the attacks ended and fires back white orbs at Eevee.

"Eevee!" Ash cries, to stunned by the quick reply. The move hits Eevee, sending him flying back across the field. "Are you alright Eevee?"

**"I'm… fine. I… will… not… back… DOWN!"** Eevee cries, releasing red glowing plates of energy, slamming into the Slakoth, sending it into the wall behind Norman, knocking it out.

"Slakoth is unable to battle!" The ref calls.

"Thank you Slakoth. You've done an excellent job."

"What move was that?" Ash asks.

"That was trump card Ash. The power increases the more it's used (I've altered the definition because in this there isn't anything called pp)." Brock calls from the stands.

"Excellent Eevee, you learnt trump card!" Ash exclaims.

"Come on Dad! You can't lose to him!" Max shouts.

"Calm down Max." May sighs, "You're getting too excited."

"Don't you want Dad to win? Some sister you are." Max huffs.

"Of course I want Dad to win, but I'm just being more mature in my supporting."

"Whatever." Max sighs as he slumps down onto his seat.

"Time for my next pokemon. I choose you, Vigoroth!" A white monkey-like pokemon appears on the field with two sharp claws on each hands, two brown stripes on its' back and a red bit of fur in between its' eyes.

"Who's that pokemon?" Ash asks, getting out his pokedex for the second time.

"Vigoroth, the wild monkey pokemon. Its heartbeat is fast and its blood so agitated that it can't sit still for one second." Ash looks up and sees Vigoroth jumping from side to side, ready to strike at any moment.

"This one looks a lot stronger. We need to be careful Eevee."

**"Got it."**

"Vigoroth, use slash!" Norman calls out.

"Use shadow ball!" Ash calls. _'I need to keep it away as those claws look like they could do a lot of damage.'_

"Cut through them Vigoroth!" Vigoroth continues to sprint forward and starts to wave his hands about in blur of white fur and smoke as it cuts through the shadow balls. It towers over Eevee and slashes him across the jaw, sending him high into the air and landing with a heavy "THUD!"

"Eevee! Come on, get up Eevee."

"Finish it off with Flamethrower Vigoroth."

"Eevee, dig!" The fire envelops everything in its path. Vigoroth stops the attack and all that remains is a hole in the ground. "Go for it Eevee!" The ground beneath Vigoroth cracks and Eevee returns the hit to the jaw, sending Vigoroth stumbling back.

**"Argh! You little pest."** Vigoroth growls.

"Use fury swipes Vigoroth!"

"Keep it at bay with trump card Eevee. Use it multiple times!" Vigoroth runs forward as more red blades of energy are fired form Eevee. Again, Vigoroth slashes through them getting ever closer. Eevee fires again and again. Vigoroth cuts through the second set but the third is too powerful and Vigoroth is thrown backwards across the field.

"Come on Vigoroth! Shadow ball!"

"You use it too Eevee!" The two moves collide, creating a thick cloud of smoke.

"Now, use slash into the air and then attack with fury swipes!" Norman shouts out.

**"Got you!"** Vigoroth cries triumphantly.

**"AAAARRRRRGGGGHHHH!" **Eevee cries as he's continually hit by the sharp claws. Vigoroth break off the attack and Eevee slumps to the floor exhausted.

"Eevee!" Ash cries as the smoke clears, revealing the extent of the damage done. The ref looks at Eevee and starts,

"Eevee is unable to-" He's cut off by Eevee slowly getting back to his feet.

"Eevee, you need to rest. You can barely stand."

**"Ash. You've cared for me for only a short while, but I've been so happy being with you. I will not back down."**

"Eevee, you don't need to pay me back by going down difficultly."

**"But I'm not done yet. Watch."** Eevee smiles to Ash and starts to glow. Eevee's legs grow longer, his body growing slightly, the collar of fur disappears, his grow a little thicker, some fur-like whiskers on the sides of his face grow too. Finally his tail grows and thins, the ends splitting in two. The light shines brightly and sparkles, revealing an Espeon.

"Yeah! Espeon, you evolved!"

**"I told you I'm not done yet. Now let's take this Vigoroth down."** Espeon says, getting ready for battle to commence once again.

"You got it. Start off with double team Espeon!" Within seconds, Vigoroth is surrounded by two dozen Espeon's.

"Vigoroth, use flamethrower to find the real one!" Norman cries, snapping out of surprise.

"Use shadow ball!" Ash calls out. Vigoroth releases the flames as it starts to get rid of the fakes, when he was hit from everywhere by Espeon's attack.

"Excellent work Espeon, now finish Vigroth off with trump card!"

**"Take this!"** Espeon cries, releasing the attack, knocking the Vigoroth out.

"Vigoroth is unable to battle." The ref calls.

"Thank you Espeon." Ash says, bending down as Espeon runs over to him, "However, you still need to rest. Sit here next to me and let Pikachu and I deal with the rest."

**"But-"**

"No Espeon. Just because you've evolved, doesn't mean you have much more energy to continue. If Pikachu somehow fails, you would have had a bit of a rest before you get back out there. Just please, take a rest." Ash says looking into Espeon's eyes.

**"Ok Ash."** Espeon replies, turning round and lying down to face the field.

"Come on then buddy, let's get that badge." Ash says to Pikachu.

**"You got it Ash."** Pikachu replies, smiling.

**"You can do it Pikachu! If you can beat me, you can beat anyone!"** Umbreon cries from the stands, causing Pikachu to blush.

"Pikachu huh. No-one has managed to best my last pokemon for a very long time. No-one has since the start of the Silver Conference. Let's see if you can, come on out, Slaking!" Norman cries, tossing his pokeball high into the air. The ball opens up and a blue-white light erupts from the inside and onto the battlefield, revealing Norman's Slaking. Ash pulls out his pokedex once more as he gets the information on the pokemon.

"Slaking, the lazy pokemon. This pokemon lives lying on its side. It only rolls over and moves when there is more grass to eat."

"Sounds a bit like Slakoth than Vigoroth. This one looks the toughest yet though. Let's get this badge Pikachu, start off with a Thunder!" Pikachu releases the powerful attack, landing a direct hit. However, the Slaking doesn't make a sound and takes the hit.

"You'll have to do a lot better than that to take down my Slaking. Now use Earthquake!"

"You know what to do Pikachu." Ash smiles. Slaking slams his fists into the ground, creating a tremor across the battlefield. However, Pikachu was in the air after rolling back and using his tail as a springboard, launching him skywards. "Now use thunder again!" Pikachu releases another powerful attack, this time causing Slaking to wince slightly. "Get in close with quick attack!" Pikachu lands and streaks off, slamming hard into the Slaking. The Slaking doesn't move but Pikachu bounces back from its body.

"Now use hyper beam Slaking!" Norman cries. Slaking opens his mouth and fires a powerful orange beam hitting the Pikachu, who was too close to dodge. Pikachu flies into the wall, creating an indent.

"Pikachu! Are you alright?" Pikachu picks himself out of the wall and falls to the floor.

**"I'm fine Ash. Shocked, that's all."** Pikachu says, standing up slowly.

"Come one Dad! Attack while Pikachu's recovering!"

"Max, once a pokemon uses hyper beam, they need to recover too. Norman can't use an attack either."

"Oh yeah. He's still going to win though. Pikachu isn't doing a lot against Slaking, so Slaking is clearly going to win and dad will win another match."

"Ash still has Espeon though." May states.

"But he's really tired from two previous fights. There's no way he can win agains Slaking."

"Pikachu, get in close again."

**"You sure Ash. That didn't work last time."**

"Don't worry, this time will be different." Pikachu sets off running towards Slaking again.

"Thank you Ash. You're gifting me this victory. Slaking use focus punch." Slaking pulls his arm back, his arm glowing slightly.

"Use agility Pikachu." Ash smiles.

"Now Slaking!" Slaking throws the punch, but Pikachu disappears with a burst of speed and reappears on top of Slaking.

"Now use Thunder!" For the third time, Pikachu release another thunder. Slaking roars in pain as the attack comes from close range.

"Throw the Pikachu off Slaking!" Slaking grits his teeth and grabs Pikachu, hurling him into the air. "Now use hyper beam again!"

"Pikachu, use thunder on yourself and use double edge!" Ash cries.

**"Ash you're going to make Pikachu faint!"** Umbreon cries from the stands.

'Don't worry Umbreon, Ash won't make his pokemon knock itself out. It doesn't seem like Ash's style, especially after he forced Espeon to take a rest.'

**"I don't care. Pikachu's going to get hurt!"**

'It's a battle, of course he's getting hurt.' Sakura replies. Meanwhile, Pikachu uses thunder on himself, sparks flying off of him. He then runs downwards with an orange glow around him. At the same time, Slaking charges up his hyper beam. He releases it as Pikachu glows orange. The hyper beam hits Pikachu, but Pikachu continues to run, the charged up double edge cutting through the hyper beam. Pikachu hits Slaking, creating a massive explosion between the two. Pikachu is thrown high into the sky and lands by Ash's feet.

"Come on buddy, get up. I know you can." Ash says, kneeling down next to him.

**"Come on Pikachu, do it for Ash. Do it for me. Do it for my mum, Umbreon."** Espeon encourages. Pikachu puts his paws on the ground, steadying himself as he rises agonisingly slowly and shakily. Ash smiles, and looks up. The smoke clears and he sees Slaking lying face down on the ground, eyes in swirls.

"Slaking is unable to battle. The winner is the challenger Ash!" The ref calls out.

"NO!" Max cries.

Sakura and Umbreon jump over the railings and run over to Ash and Pikachu.

'You did it Ash! That was amazing!' Sakura exclaims, kissing him.

"Thanks Sakura. I couldn't have done it without my pokemon though." He replies, smiling when they break.

'I was so worried. I wasn't sure if Eevee or Pikachu could do it at points, but they pulled through and Eevee is now an Espeon.'

"I know. I'm so happy that you evolved Espeon. Thank you again. Now take a rest in your pokeball and we'll go to the pokemon centre and get you healed."

**"You're welcome Ash."** Espeon nods as he's returned to his pokeball.

**"Ash! How could you make Pikachu do that!"** Umbreon shouts.

**"Umbreon, it's fine. I've been through a lot worse than that."**

**"No you're not. You were nearly knocked out."**

**"I was far from being knocked out."** Pikachu replies, kissing Umbreon. **"Now stop worrying about me."**

**"Fine. But if anything like that happens again, I will seriously hurt you Ash."** Umbreon growls, causing Ash to laugh.

"That's if you can catch me first."

"Ash, congratulations. You bested me and my pokemon. You have shown that you have trained your pokemon well. You have also shown that you can deal with different types of pokemon ranging from slow to fast with ease. As recognition of defeating this gym, I give you the balance badge." Norman says, holding the badge out in the palm of his hand.

"No! He can't have it." Max exclaims as he grabs the badge and runs out the room with it.

"Max! Give it back!" Norman shouts. "Sorry, he doesn't like seeing me lose, especially considering I've been unbeatable in the last three months."

"Don't worry. If that happened to my mum, I would've probably done the same thing."

"I'll go and talk to him." Norman says, running from the room to find Max. It doesn't take him long to know that Max has looked himself in the large greenhouse where the pokemon are kept. He knocks on the door, "Max, open up."

"Not if you're going to give him the badge."

"He won the battle fairly Max. That badge belongs to him."

"No, it belongs to you."

"Max, I know you're upset that I lost but that's what happens to everyone. You win some, you lose some, but what's important is that you learn from the losses and wins. These are what makes you stronger as a person and a trainer. This applies to you too Max. You don't want me to have lost and you hiding in there isn't making you a stronger person. Accepting the fact that not everyone is unbeatable will help you progress in life. Let this loss go Max. You've seen me lose before and I will lose again, that's life. Now come on out and give me back the badge." No sound is heard for a while. Norman hears footsteps and turns round to see Ash.

"Let me talk to him."

"I'm not sure that's a good idea."

"It'll be fine." Ash says smiling. "Max, it's Ash. I know how you feel. I've seen people I admire lose before and I feel like doing anything I can to stop the truth when I clearly can't. As I've grown up, I've realised that what I can do, is congratulate the other person and move on. There are more battles to come for my idols and there will be many more wins too. Your dad lost today but he'll definitely win some other day. What you need to do like I did, is embrace the fact that losing is part of life, but what is important is enjoying the time you had watching or battling. The outcome, like your dad said, will make each person stronger for the next fight. A famous man once said 'Changeis the law of life. And those who look only to the past or the present are certain to miss the future. So come on out." Silence ensues again before Max pipes up,

"Fine." He opens the door and hands the badge back to Norman, looking down at his feet the whole time.

"Thank you Max. I believe this belongs to you Ash." Norman says, giving Ash the balance badge.

"Thank you Norman. Let's go back inside." They walk inside and meet up with everyone else.

_'Thanks for the wise words Latias._' Ash thinks.

'No problem Ash.' Sakura smiles at him and they hold each other's hands. Caroline is the first to speak out loud.

"Norman, May has been talking to me and has been talking about doing something a little different with her pokemon instead of battling."

"Really? Well first of all, which pokemon did you pick?" May reaches for her pokeball and opens it, revealing her Torchic.

"Torchic. A very good pokemon, and likes you a lot already." Norman smiles as Torchic jumps up at May and into her arms. "Now what were you thinking of doing?"

"While I was on my way back here, Bianca was telling me about Pokmeon Contests. Instead of straight out battling, you show of your pokemon's beauty or coolness etc. To me, this feels like a better path for me to follow."

"That's a great idea May. You'll have to buy some contest dresses though, to look your best when you perform."

"You like the idea?" May asks stunned.

"You growing up May and you are starting to make your own choices. That is why I like the idea. I don't mind if you are a pokemon trainer or coordinator. Whatever you want to do, I'll support you through it."

"Thanks dad!" May hugs her dad.

"We will be going now." Ash buts in.

"Goodbye everyone. Thanks for a great battle Ash." Norman says, holding out his hand.

"You too Norman." Ash replies, shaking it. The group wave goodbye to May and her family as they head towards the pokemon centre.

They enter the pokemon centre and walk straight to Nurse Joy's desk.

"Hello and welcome to the Pokemon Centre." Nurse Joy says with a smile. It quickly diminishes though as Brock leans across the counter.

"Nurse Joy, I look at your face and am swept away by its' beauty. Your eyes shine like –Aaarrrgghh!" He cries as a figure pulls him away by the ear.

"Hey guys, how are you?" Misty says.

"Hey, I got my first badge and was going to heal up and phone Oldale's pokemon centre to see if you were still there."

"Yeah, sorry about that. I got back to Oldale and thought to myself 'Why didn't I run the other way to Petalburg?' and headed straight back out again. Now you heal up your pokemon while I take care of him." She says, turning and pulling Brock out of the pokemon centre.

"Sorry about him." Ash says, turning back to Nurse Joy. "These I the pokemon I need healing." Ash puts to pokeballs onto the table and Pikachu jumps next to them.

"Ok, come on Pikachu." Joy says, picking up the pokeballs and walking into a back room. She arrives back a minute later, "Your pokemon will need the rest of the afternoon to heal up fully. We have a lounge down that corridor if you want to relax for the time being."

"Thanks Nurse Joy, however, do you mind if I stay with my pokemon for now?"

"May I ask why?"

"My Espeon has only just evolve and he helped me out massively in my gym battle. I want to be there once he's healed."

"Ok, second door on the right." Nurse Joy says as she opens the gate to allow Ash through.

"You guys relax in the lounge. We'll meet up later." Ash says. Sakura gives him a curious look but leaves with the others. Ash enters the room and sees his Phanpy, Espeon and Pikachu lying on two tables. He spots a chair in the corner of the room and moves it in between the two beds. He sits there watching his three pokemon, talking to Pikachu who's the only one awake. After three hours, Espeon and Phanpy start to stir, causing Ash to smile.

"Hey you two. You feeling better now?"

**"Sore, but otherwise alright."**

**"Same as Espeon."**

"That's good. Give it another hour and you'll be fine." The door suddenly bursts open and Nurse Joy rushes in.

"Ash, one of your friends asked for you, apparently it's an emergency."

"What's happened?" Ash exclaims rising quickly and following Nurse Joy out the room, closing the door behind him.

"Bianca says that there's someone that Sakura doesn't trust talking to her. He keeps asking her personal questions she doesn't want to answer. The one he seems to continually ask is where is your brother? Not do you have one, where is he?" Ash becomes very worried and he vaults the counter when he's back in the main room. Bianca turns to face him, a similar worried expression on her face.

"Who's asking these questions?" Ash demands.

"She said not to trust him Ash." Bianca says shaking her head.

"Who Bianca, who?"

"It's Rob, Ash."

* * *

**It was Espeon who won the most votes with 5. In joint second was Umbreon, Jolteon and Sylveon with 3 votes each. Another reminder that Ash's new pokemon poll is over and Bianca's is now open. Thanks for all your support. K9wolf369.**


	19. Absol

**Sorry about the Bianca poll going up late but the internet was making it impossible for me to do much. The poll is now on my page, so please pick the pokemon which you would like to see Bianca own.**

"Speech"

'Telepathy'

**"Pokespeech"**

_'Character thoughts'_

(A/N)

* * *

**Forest**

Ash and Bianca run into the lounge area and see Rob talking to an uncomfortable looking Sakura.

"Hey!" Ash cries. Rob looks round to see Ash storming towards him with a very angry face. Rob stands up and runs towards the other exit, vaulting chairs and sofas to get out of the room, Ash hot on his tail. "Get back here Rob!" Ash shouts.

"No can do Ash. I don't want any trouble so I'm leaving." Rob replies. They circle back round to the entrance and burst into the evening sunlight. Rob continues into some trees, Ash following a few paces behind. Ash continues running, losing sight of Rob and ends up in a little clearing.

"Come out here Rob! Why are you interested in Sakura when she doesn't want to talk?"

"I'm sorry Ash, I should have taken the hint, but I know there is something…. Special about her and wanted to find out." A voice says from the trees all around Ash.

"Well of course there's something special about her, she's the most beautiful and kind hearted girl in the whole world. How can she not be special?"

"That's not what I meant Ash, and I think you know it too. I will find out what you're hiding, you can count on that. Goodbye Ash, we shall meet again."

"Don't run Rob you coward. Get back here."

'Ash, Rob is running from the park to the left of you. You probably won't be able to catch him though.' Latios says.

"Then can you go and get him." Ash replies frustrated.

'I cannot reveal myself Ash. It would make Rob even more likely to follow us.'

"Fine. Let's get back to Latias." Ash turns round and jogs back to the pokemon centre and into the lounge where he finds Sakura, Bianca, Misty and Brock waiting for him.

"Where'd Rob go?" Bianca asks.

"I lost him in the park."

"What do you mean you lost him?" Misty exclaims before whispering, "You're faster than anyone."

"Yes I am but I shouldn't be. That would just arouse more suspicion." Ash replies harshly. "If there was anything I could've done, I would've, but I can't."

"Oh yeah. Sorry." Misty replies looking down at her feet."

'Don't worry Ash. You're here with me now so everything is fine.'

"Well as long as you're happy, I'm happy."

"Now that this is sorted, let's go and get some food before booking a room for the night." Brock says.

"Good idea, I'm famished. I'll go get Espeon and Phanpy and then we'll go." Ash takes Sakura's hand and they go to Nurse Joy to get the two pokemon. When they enter the room, Espeon immediately runs to Ash's side and places his front paws on his knee.

**"Are you two alright? Is the problem solved?"** he asks hurriedly.

"Don't worry Espeon. We're fine now but I'm not sure if the problem is entirely solved."

**"What do you mean?"**

"Don't worry. The guy causing the problem won't be around for a while so it'll be fine. Now we need to go back to the others and grab some food before tonight."

**"Ok."** Espeon replies walking to the door. Ash returns Phanpy and they walk out of the pokemon centre to the rest of the group.

"I've found a restaurant that allows pokemon to eat in as well, without any extra cost." Brock exclaims.

"Great! Everyone can have a good dinner now." They set off and reach he restaurant in a few minutes. They sit outside in the cool night, all their pokemon around the table where they sit.

"This is great." Ash smiles, looking around at all the pokemon enjoying their food and each other's company, "This is the best restaurant by far."

"I agree, it is certainly unique." Brock comments.

'And the food is delicious!' Sakura smiles, chewing on some Magikarp.

"I agree. What do you think Togepi?"

**"Is rearry nice!"** He shrills.

"What did he say Ash?"

"He said it is really nice, and I don't want to be used as a pokemon translator."

"What's the point of having a useful ability like that then?"

"So I can learn what pokemon really think and say instead of people assuming what they say."

**"To be honest Ash, what we say is generally what you would think we would say. It isn't that hard to decipher what we say by our emotions and actions."**

"Who's side are you on Pikachu? Plus, my argument is still valid as you said generally, not all the time."

**"Whatever you say Ash."** Pikachu replies, going back to his ketchup covered food.

"Plus it makes me feel like I'm a tool. I'm not a tool, I'm a person like everyone else."

'It's okay Ash. You won't be viewed any differently and certainly won't be used as a tool.' Sakura says, taking Ash's hand in hers and looking into his brown eyes.

"Thanks Sakura. You always look out for me." The rest of the meal continues on in silence until they are ready to leave with all but a few pokemon in their pokeballs.

"Back to the pokemon centre then." Brock says. They walk for a couple of minutes until a voice makes them jump.

"What do we have here? A bunch of kids in the dark."

"Who's there?" Ash says boldly into the darkness.

"We're the Chainsaw's (yeah, I suck at names) and we are here to take your pokemon." Ten guys, shaved heads, muscles that compare to a Machamps and leather jackets, walk out of the shadows, clutching two pokeballs each. "Now we can do this the easy way or the hard way." The leader growls.

**"We can take them Ash."** Espeon says firmly, standing in front of his trainer.

**"I agree, we should show them not to mess with us."** Umbreon agrees.

"I see your pokemon are eager to fight. I like that in a pokemon. Let's show you our pokemon then. The first round of pokeballs are thrown in the air and ten different pokemon appear.

'From left to right, they are Ninjask, Mightyena, Breloom, Swellow, Medicham, Dodrio, Hariyama, Combusken, Marshtomp and Grovyle.' Latios tells the group.

'We should run.' Sakura says, holding Ash's arm.

"We need a distraction first." Ash whispers, "We'll never outrun some of them."

'Wait! I remember from when I was young, there is a berry native to Hoenn that should be able to help us. Just think of a distraction and run.' Latios says, disappearing from their minds.

"Pikachu use thunder and everyone - run!" Ash cries. Pikachu lets loose with the attack, stunning the pokemon and their trainers as everyone else runs.

"After them!" The leader cries as their pokemon give chase. The first to catch them was Ninjask who darts around them, quickly followed by Swellow flying overhead and Dodrio screeching at their side.

"Espeon, use shadow ball on the Swellow." Espeon fires a couple of dark orbs skyward which are easily dodged by the Swellow.

'Everyone, return your pokemon and eat these!' Latios cries, dropping berries into everyone's hands.

"What are they?" Misty cries out, struggling to hold a scared Togepi, the berries and running.

'They're called Arte berries. They give you a boost of energy, perfect for escaping tricky situations like this. Plus, they last longer in the moonlight.' Ash looks up and sees a cloudless sky with a full moon staring down at them.

"Great!" he throws the berries into his mouth and returns Espeon with Pikachu jumping onto his shoulder, "Although I don't really need them."

"It will keep you're powers a secret though." Bianca says, swallowing her berries. They all run into the park and into the trees to make it harder for the pokemon to follow, Ash breaking ahead of the others and out the other side of the park.

"Wait up a bit Ash!" Misty cries. Ash stops and turns around as his friends catch up to him, all but the Ninjask have fallen behind. They continue running and past a guy in dark clothes. They then here the man speek,

"Mightyena, use fire fang on the Ninjask!" The group turn to see a Mightyena, mouth ablaze, biting the chasing Ninjask, knocking it out. "Now thunder fang on the Dodrio!" Mightyena immediately drops the Ninjask and attacks the Dodrio blindingly fast, knocking the Dodrio out after a quick struggle. The man glances back at them, "You should get going. The others will be on your tail."

"What about you?" Bianca asks. The man returns his pokemon and smiles, blue eyes showing a glint of mischief.

"Yes, what about me indeed." He walks off, disappearing into the night. The group all look dumbstruck.

'We should thank him.'

'No Sakura, you need to keep running, the pokemon are close.'

'I agree with Latios, I better get us going again.' "Latios is right guys, that guy saving us will be for nothing otherwise."

"Right, let's get out of town." Brock says as they walk in the opposite direction to the man, "And Ash, next time you don't need to say that you need to get us moving and then tell us to get moving. We only need the latter."

"What do you mean? I didn't say that I need to get us going, I thought of it but didn't say it."

'I believe you may have started to develop a little bit of telepathy.' Latios says.

"Really? That's awesome. That will be very useful in a battle."

"You'll need to control it though, otherwise everyone will hear it whether you want them to or not."

"Your right. Can you two help me again?" Ash asks the two legendary pokemon.

'Of course Ash, why wouldn't we?' Sakura says, kissing his cheek.

"Thank you. Now how do I stop broadcasting my thoughts out to everyone when they are meant for me only?"

'This could take time Ash. It's not a simple task this. The first thing you need to grasp, is that everyone had a shield around their head. This shield is not visible to anyone but some psychics are able to visualise it. The purpose of this shield is to keep your thoughts from escaping. When you want them to escape, you have to imagine a door and open it briefly, to get your message out. However, as you are only just starting to learn telepathy, your shield won't be very clear to you as you have only started to learn telepathy. It will appear more frequent the closer you are to being able to always use telepathy and that should take a couple of days, possibley more.'

"Right. In short, everyone has a shield, no-one but some psychics can see it, I may not see it as I'm a beginner, shield will be more visible when my telepathy is more developed."

'Correct. I propose that whenever you aren't doing anything important, like eating, you try and find your shield. Also, every now and then, send a thought through the door you have to imagine to Sakura or I and we'll reply if we get the message.'

"Thanks you two."

"I can't help but think that that guy is familiar." Bianca ponders, breaking their conversation abruptly.

'I concur, he reminds me of…. No it can't be….'

"What is it Sakura?"

'I think that may be Rob.'

"What!?" Everyone exclaims.

"That's ludicrous. Why would he help us?"

'I don't know Misty. Let's just go and forget about it.'

"Well up ahead should be Route 104 and then it's on to Petalburg forest." Brock tells everyone.

"Oh no. Not a forest. Route 102 was bad enough as it is." Misty shudders.

"What happened at Route 102 was an effect of Team Rocket. Those Surskit weren't meant to be there in that scale." Brock replies.

"That's not making the prospect of Petalburg forest any better." Misty replies angrily.

"Right, sorry."

"I wonder what pokemon we will find in the forest."

'There are a lot of Wurmple there, plus their evolutions, Cascoon and Silcoon. There are others but those are the main pokemon in the forest.'

"So shall we head back to the pokemon centre? Or shall we camp out?"

"I don't want to run into the Chainsaw's again. Let's camp." Misty says hugging Togepi closely.

"I agree. We don't want another encounter with those guys." Ash says, looking over his shoulder. The tired group walk to the outskirts of Petalburg forest and make camp, everyone drifting off to sleep quickly. A shadow appears from the trees, looking at the camp, and disappears without a sound.

The next day, Ash wakes up to the smell of Brock's cooking – sausage eggs and beans. 'Smells great.' Ash thinks to himself.

"It tastes great too Ash." Misty calls from outside. Ash crawls out of his tent with a confused look on his face.

"I didn't say anything."

"Really? We all heard you." Bianca replies with an equally confused look on her face.

'You must have used telepathy Ash. Try and visualise the shield I told you about while you eat.'

"Right, I'll work on it." Ash says, sitting down and giving Sakura a kiss. He takes a plate from Brock with his share of the food on and starts focusing on the shield and ignoring everyone around him. He tries to imagine a barrier around his shoulders and head. He smiles to himself, thinking 'I made a shield.' But when he thinks that, a hole appears in the side of the shield allowing the thoughts out and making the shield disappear.

'Don't worry Ash. It will take time.' Sakura smiles at him.

"I know but this is one ability I want to develop quickly otherwise everyone can hear them. Not just our group." Ash says angrily.

"If it happens, we can blame it on Sakura trying to create a male voice for pranks or to scare people or something." Misty says.

'Good idea Misty. We still have to be careful though. Ash, you need to strengthen the shield before thinking of any thoughts. Next time we eat, find your shield and then look for any holes. Then think of something. Once you've got the hang of visualising the shield, the rest should come a lot quicker.'

"I'll try it once more now, then we head into Petalburg forest." Ash replies. He gets up and sits on a rock a little way away from the rest of the group and focuses on the shield again. Once he sees the shield again, he then tries to find any holes in the shield, but once again, it would disappear and he'd be back to finding the shield again. After five minutes of trying, Ash groaned in frustration and stood up. He saw everyone was ready and watching him.

"What?" He asks.

"How's it going?"

"Not good. When I try look for the doorways, the whole shield fades."

'You have to be patient and continue working on it. Once you've mastered it, you won't have to think of the shield, only a little door for the thoughts you want to be heard to escape from. Then, we have to focus on aiming them at certain people and not everyone around us.'

"This is going to take a long time." Ash mumbles, picking up his bag and they all turn and walk into the semi-darkness of the forest. All around them are Wurmple's sleeping on branches and Silcoon's and Cascoon's hanging on thin threads from trees.

"This is horrible." Misty shivers, glancing around her continuously.

"As long as we don't prevoke them, they won't harm us." Brock replies.

"I don't care. They're still horrible creatures."

"Just ignore her Brock. She won't stop until we get through here anyway." Ash replies, causing Misty to glare at him.

"I will not." Misty grumbles to herself. Before Ash could reply, a voice calls out to them.

"Hey, you lot! Are any of you trainers? I'm feeling unstoppable at the moment as I haven't lost today." The voice belongs to a young boy wearing a white shirt and shorts, carrying a net on his shoulder and a hat on his head – the clothes of a bug catcher.

"Uh, yeah, I am." Ash replies.

"Good, let's battle!"

"Uh, ok."

"We'll do a three v three. Sound good?"

"Fine by me."

"Ok, I choose you, Wurmple." Misty cringes when the pokemon is revealed and slinks to the back of the group.

"I choose Growlithe then." Ash smirks, "You can have the first move."

"Wurmple, use tackle!" The Wurmple races towards the Growlithe.

"Dodge it Growlithe and use flamethrower."

**"Can't I have more competition?"** Growlithe asks as she jumps into the air and releases flames from her mouth at the Wurmple below, KO'ing it instantly.

"What!" The bug catcher exclaims, returning Wurmple and pulling out a second pokemon. "Fine, now I choose you, Silcoon! Use harden!" The pokeball opens and the Silcoon immediately has a metal sheen covering its' body, toughening it up.

"Really? Growlithe, use flamethrower again."

"Harden Silcoon." Silcoon has the silver colour on its' body again as the flames engulf it. When the flames die down, the Silcoon has swirls in its eyes. "Not again!" The bug catcher complains returning his second pokemon. "My final pokemon, go Dustox! And use psybeam!" The poison moth pokemon bursts from its' ball and fires a multi-coloured beam down at Growlithe, hitting her before she can react.

"Growlithe! Are you ok?"

**"Don't worry Ash. Just caught by surprise."**

"Use take down." Growlithe glows orange and charges to Dustox, closing the gap quickly.

"Use gust Dustox!" The bug catcher calls. Dustox flaps its wings rapidly, blowing the air towards Growlithe. The attack hits Growlithe, slowing her slightly as she continues to close the gap. "get out of there Dustox!" The bug catcher cries too late as Growlithe slams into the Dustox, sending it into a tree.

"Finish it off with crunch!" Growlithe bounds towards the dazed Dustox, powerless to defend or escape Growlithe's glowing jaw.

"NO!" the bug catcher cries seeing his final pokemon knocked out. "You're Growlithe is very well trained." He says, returning his pokemon to its ball.

"Thanks." Ash replies, stroking Growlithe, "How many wins did you have before you lost?"

"Zero."

"Wait, what?! You said you hadn't lost today." Bianca cries incredulously .

"I haven't. This was my first battle today. That means before this fight I haven't been beaten."

"That's a strange way of looking at it." Brock says.

"That's very misleading." Misty says, returning to the front of the group.

"That it may be, but it's the truth nonetheless. I've gotta go now, nice battling with you." He says, running off into the dense forest.

"Well after that brief bit of excitement, we should get moving." Brock says, taking the lead. They all start walking except for Ash who is looking of into the forest off to their left. Sakura is the first to notice and she turns around and asks,

'What are you looking at Ash?' Ash break from his staring and sees that everyone is now looking at him again.

"There's a pokemon over there injured. I can feel it."

"What do you mean you can feel it?" Misty asks.

"I can feel its mind. I've never noticed it before now but I think it's in pain."

'I can feel it too Ash. You're right. There's a pokemon injured a hundred metres into the forest in the direction you're looking.' Latios says,

becoming visible.

"How did he know that?" Bianca asks confused.

"Not now Bianca, we need to get to the pokemon." Ash replies a little harshly as he makes his way into the forest.

"If it's alright with you guys, I'm going to stay here." Misty says.

'I'll go with him. Everyone else stay here.' Sakura says, turning back into her true form and flying off after Ash. She catches up to him quickly and floats alongside him.

'How come you only noticed this now?'

"I don't know Latias. As soon as the battle finished, I felt pain emanating from over here. I can't really explain it any better."

'We'll ask Latios when we meet up with them again.' Ash nods,

"We're nearly there, just past here and… over there!" Ash exclaims running over to the collapsed pokemon. The pokemon has white fur covering its entire body. The only other colour on its body is the black claws, tail, face and a sickle-shaped growth on the side of its head. "We need to get it back to Brock. He can patch it up." Ash says, trying to lift Absol up.

'Ash, put her on my back, I'll carry her.'

"Thanks Latias. How do you know she's a girl?" Ash asks, lifting Absol onto her back and draping his jacket over her.

'I'm a more advance psychic than you'll ever be Ash. Trust me when I say she's a girl.'

"Fair enough." Ash replies, making sure that Absol is alright. They reach the group quickly and Brock immediately puts down his bag and examines Absol to try and find out what's wrong with her.

"She's suffered extreme pain all over her body. There's marks on her legs where they must've been bound and she's got bruises all over her body. We need some berries and fast."

"Tell us which ones and we'll go and find them."

"Just the normal berries Ash. I have all of them here and should be able to whip up a remedy in no time."

"Great. I hope she'll be alright." Ash says, kneeling next to the Absol. "Latios. Latias and I are wondering how I managed to feel her pain and her prescence."

'It will be to do with your psychic powers developing Ash. I think after your telepathy and now this, I wouldn't expect any more to come to you.'

"Why's that?"

'Your mind is a lot weaker than a pokemon's and so it can't take as much as ours. You've already gained quite a few abilities and I'm not sure your mind will be able to take much more.'

"Oh, ok." Ash says disappointed.

"There we go. Ash can you spread this paste over her wounds please?" Brock says, pouring one berry mixture into Absol's mouth.

"Sure thing." Ash says, taking the mixture.

"It'll be a while before she wakes up." Brock says.

"Right, if you guys want to go on ahead to Rustboro City, I'll wait here with Absol until she comes round."

"Don't be stupid Ash." Bianca says, "We'll all wait with you until she comes round."

"Actually, I might want to leave." Misty says meekly.

'How about I carry her?' Latios asks.

"Are you sure?"

'Of course. I've carried more than her before. This way we can keep an eye on Absol and get out of Petalburg.'

"Ok then." Ash nods. With the help of Brock, they get Absol onto Latios' back and they set off again.

The group stop at midday with the sun's rays shining through the forest's thick canopy. Latios lays Absol down and Ash checks her wounds and finding them healed slightly.

"Your medicine's doing the job Brock, her bruises and rope marks are starting to fade."

"When doesn't it." Brock grins, "I'll start prepping lunch and we can wait here until Absol wakes up."

"I'm going to find a quiet spot and draw some of the pokemon in the forest."

'Don't go too far Bianca.' Latios warns.

"I won't, don't worry." Bianca smiles, disappearing into the dense foliage. Latias sits next to Ash,

'Are you alright Ash?' She asks, concerned.

"I'm fine Latias. I can't believe someone would do this. It makes me sad to see a pokemon like this and angry at whoever did this."

'We all are. This isn't the way pokemon should be treated.' She says shaking her head. A soft groan is heard and Absol's eyes flutter open.

**"Where am I?"** She asks, looking up at Ash and Latias.

"You're safe. We found you unconscious with a lot of injuries, so we tried to patch you up as best as we could."

**"Who are you? Where are the other pokemon?"**

"I'm Ash. This is my girlfriend Latias. As for the other pokemon, you were the only one there."

**"I'm the only one?"**

"Yes."

**"I need to help the others. They need to be freed."** She whispers determinly as she tries to stand, but unable to find her feet.

"You need to rest. We'll find the others once you've had some food and have regained some energy.

**"You'll help me?"**

"Of course we will. I want to find who did this to you and put them in their place and help any other pokemon they have."

**"Thank you Ash and Latias."** Absol says, falling asleep.

"No problem." Ash smiles, stroking her body gently. "How long until lunch Brock?"

"The stew has just started cooking so not long now."

"Someone will need to go and fetch Bianca."

"Why don't you do it Ash?" Misty asks.

"Why don't you."

"I'm scared of bug pokemon, so I ask again, why don't you go?" Misty asks angrily.

"Because, if you haven't seen her yet, Absol is very weak and I'm protecting her." Ash snaps back.

"Who does she need protecting from?"

"Whoever did this to her in the first place."

'Calm down you two. I'll go and find Bianca. She's not that far so either one of you could've gone and be near here anyway.' Latios butts in.

"Thanks Latios." He flies off into the forest and returns a couple of minutes later with Bianca and Smeargle.

"Here we go." Brock says, as he lifts the pot from the fire and starts to ladle the stew from the pot into bowls for everyone, before passing them round.

"Mmmm, delicious like always."

"Thanks Misty." They all tuck into their lunch apart from Ash.

'Why aren't you eating Ash?' Latias asks.

"It would be better if Absol had some stew too. I'll wait until she wakes up."

"Don't be ridiculous Ash. We have pokemon food for her." Brock says.

"I don't think that'll be enough for her Brock."

'How about we put some of your stew into the bowl of pokemon food?' Latios says.

"Ok." Ash replies, pouring some of his lunch into the bowl for Absol. Then he eats, his eyes never leaving Absol. Just as they finish, Absol wakes again. She looks around and sees everyone looking at her. She sniffs and catches the scent of her food.

**"Is that… food?"** She asks.

"Yep, here you are." Ash smiles, putting the bowl next to her. "It has some pokemon food and some stew that Brock made." Absol stands shakily, Ash supporting her. She dips her head and nibbles on her food. Once she tastes it, she devours the rest.

"You must have needed that huh?" Ash laughs.

**"Yes. Thank you."**

"We need to get to Rustboro city to get you looked at by Nurse Joy. Then we'll go and find your friends."

**"Ok."** Absol nods. The group pack up and walk through the forest, not encountering anyone or any wild pokemon, Ash talking to Absol, filling her in with the group.

"We have Brock who's food you enjoyed, Bianca an artist, Misty a water type expert and Latios, a legendary pokemon."

**"Hello. A legendary huh. I never would've expected to see one."**

"Most don't. I've had more than my fair share of legendries if I'm being honest, but it never gets old."

**"I've just realised, now that I'm bette, you can understand me. How do you understand me?"**

"I saved his life." Ash says, pointing at Latios, "and then he saved mine by giving me part of his aura and so I've developed a few abilities like understanding pokespeech."

**"Oh. So you guys like to save people from dying then?"** Absol asks, causing Ash to laugh lightly.

"We help whoever's in need of help. We don't like anyone getting hurt for no good reason."

**"I see."**

"So Absol, how many others are there?" Misty asks.

**"Around about twenty pokemon in total."** Absol replies. Ash reiterates this before saying,

"That's a lot of pokemon. I only thought you were allowed to have six."

"I believe Absol is referring to a poacher. They capture pokemon in cages or tie them up like Absol before selling them off for a lot of money." Brock informs Ash.

"That's outrageous!" Ash exclaims, "When I see that person…." He growls.

**"Calm down Ash, I haven't seen you this angry since Latias was taken."**

**"You were taken too Latias?"** Absol asks.

'Yes, by a group of people called Team Magma. However they didn't have me for too long since Ash and Latios rescued me.' Latias tells, as she holds Ash's hand and looks him in the eye.

"Well no-one was going to stop me until I got you back." Ash smiles.

**"Can you help the other pokemon then?"** Absol asks.

"Of course we can. We wouldn't be very good friends if we didn't."

**"Thank you."** Absol says, visibly happier. They reach the Rustboro by the evening and Latias reverts back to her human form as Latios turns invisible.

"Here we are Absol, Nurse Joy will check over your injuries and make sure you're fine before we head out and find your friends." Ash says.

**"I'm not sure about this."**

"Why not?"

**"I don't trust humans."**

"You trust me and my friends do you not?"

**"That's different. You helped heal me a little and gave me food and I couldn't do anything to stop you. If I could, I would've."**

"If you want, I'll stay near you the entire time. That way I can stop anyone from trying to harm you."

**"Ok."** Absol nods.

"Brock and I will stay out here." Misty says.

"What? Why?" Brock asks.

"Because we don't need you going in and flirting with Nurse Joy."

"Oh." Brock moans, causing the group to laugh.

"Hopefully we won't be too long." Ash says as they walk into the pokemon centre.

"Hello, welcome to the pokemon centre." Nurse Joy says cheerily.

"Hello Nurse Joy. We found Absol out in the wild with bruises and rope marks and treated them as best we could but would like you to give her some proper treatment."

"I'm sorry but we don't treat wild pokemon here. She needs to be captured first." Nurse Joy says apologetically. Ash looks down at her and her back to him.

"We could always try somewhere else." Absol looks away, thinking to herself.

_'Should I? He has helped me a lot and I trust him more than any human I've ever met. I also need to help my friends but I may get captured in the process. If Ash has me, I can't be caught.'_

**"Ash, you can catch me."** Absol says nodding her head.

"Are you sure?" Absol nods her head again,

**"This way the poacher can't catch me again when we help my friends. Also, I trust you."**

"Ok then." Ash says, pulling out a pokeball and tapping it against Absol. She gets sucked inside and doesn't resist capture as the ball pings after three rocks. He immediately releases her again. "There we are. Now she can be healed."

"Ok, come with me Absol." Nurse Joy says, gesturing for Absol to go ahead down the hallway to the medical rooms. Absol looks down the hallway and then up at Ash before walking. Ash starts to follow but is stopped by Joy. "This is for workers of the pokemon centre only. You'll have to wait for me to finish before you can see her."

"She's scared of humans since her injury and I think it would be best if I went to keep her calm." Nurse Joy looks at Absol and back at Ash.

"Fine, but you'll have to wait outside the room when I'm checking her over."

"That's fine as long as there is a window of some sort. Hey, Bianca, can you send Phanpy back to Professor Oak please." Ash says tossing Charizards ball to her as he three walk down the hallway. Nurse Joy stops at a door and opens it for Absol, who cautiously enters the room.

"Don't worry Absol, I'll be out here. Look through the window and you'll see me." Ash says, as Nurse Joy closes the door.

"Up on the table Absol." Joy asks. She leaps onto the table and lays down, looking out the window at Ash. He gives her a smile and she relaxes, not realising her body was tensed up. Before she knew it, Nurse Joy had finished. "You were very well behaved." Joy praises.

"How is she?"

"She's fine. You did a good job and there wasn't a lot left to be done. I rubbed some lotion into her wounds to help speed the healing and she'll be fine by tomorrow."

"That's great news." Ash says relieved, "Let's go and meet up with the others." They all walk out to the entrance room.

"Hey! Is Absol alright?" Bianca asks.

"Yeah, she's fine." Ash replies, "Now we find the poacher." He says, exiting the pokemon centre.

"Yeah but where should we start looking?" Bianca asks.

"I don't know. Absol, do you remember where you last saw your friends?" Ash asks looking down at her. He's surprised when he sees her tensed up and looking very scared. He follows her gaze and notices a person staring right back at them.

"Hello there. I believe you have something that belongs to me." The person says, smiling menacingly.

* * *

**There we have it. Ash now has Absol in his team - she won with 11 votes. A second reminder that Bianca's pokemon poll is still open until the next chapter is posted, so go and pick your favourites! Also, I would like you to give me a description of what this poacher should look like. I don't want the typical big, bulky guy who could take down a Machamp in a fight. I have also left it a bit vague as I didn't know if the poacher should be male or female. Thanks everyone for the continued support. K9wolf369.**


	20. Rescue

**The Bianca pokemon is now closed – thanks for everyone who voted. The new poll that is on my page is for Brock. Thank you everyone who has posted what the poacher should look like and I'm going to use Ferosianinja and Mister L.'s combined. Now, on with the story.**

"Speech"

'Telepathy'

**"Poke speech"**

_'Character thoughts'_

* * *

**Rescue**

The man was very thin and weak looking, malnourished almost, and was just about holding a tranquiliser gun by his side. However, his facial features were in complete contrast to his body; He had grey hair that is swept over to one side of his head, calculating green eyes and a moustache that was as well trimmed as his hair.

"Who are you?" Ash asks boldly.

"I'm a man looking for his property and which is standing behind you." He gestured to Absol who is cowering behind Ash's legs. He looks down at her and then back up at the poacher.

"She does not belong to you. She never did and never will. I'm her trainer now."

"That doesn't make a difference to me young boy." The man says shaking his head, "What I want, I get. I want the Absol and I will get her. I have a buyer who is going to pay me handsomely for her."

"You disgust me." Ash spits, "We will not allow you to have her."

"I don't think you get a choice in the matter boy." Four people in dark clothing emerge from the pokemon centre, two more to the right and left of them all grab everyone. Pikachu is placed into an electric-proof container.

"Get off me!" Ash shouts.

"Oh shut him up." The man sighs. The guy holding Ash hits him over the head with a baton a few times, knocking him unconscious.

"ASH!" Sakura cries as her lovers' limp body is hauled over the man's shoulder.

"Do I have to silence you too?" The poacher asks angrily, making Sakura sob silently to herself.

"Give me back Togepi!" Misty cries as her mallet is taken from her as she tries to get to Togepi who's crying in another mans' arms.

"Er, boss. It won't stop crying." A deep guttural voice says.

"Give it back to her and help keep Absol under control." He hands back Togepi and he immediately stops crying, hugging Misty tightly.

"It's ok Togepi, everything's going to be fine now."

"Let's move out before we attract too much more attention. The people in the pokemon centre have most probably called Office Jenny by now and we should be on our way." The all walk away, disappearing into the woods.

"Do you know why I want Absol?" The poacher asks, "Or why I'm getting paid a very high price for her? No guesses?

"Because you're a cruel heartless person who only thinks about themself and no-one else." Bianca says.

"No. The buyer wants her because Absol are very special pokemon. The buyer is from a region called Kalos. Over there, they have special stones that make a pokemon evolve for when they are used in battle. This means that he'll pay a very good price for her."

"How's that possible? A pokemon evolution is permanent." Bianca says astonished.

"That's what we all thought but it appears not. I've only heard what I've been told, so whether it's true or not, I don't know. However, I will not turn down a generous offer for a pokemon."

"You're a monster."

"Call me what you want, it won't make a difference to me." The poacher shrugs. The group arrive at a clearing in Petalburg forest, where a horrifying site beholds them. There are a dozen 3x3m cages with 5 Mightyena, Absol and Houndoom's in each of them, all injured severly and trussed up with rope. Surrounding the area, 5 people stand holding more tranquiliser guns, guarding them.

"I see you found the Absol." One says.

"Yes, these people healed her and can't do anything to stop me from taking her from them. Are we ready to move out?"

"Yes. We should be able to reach the drop off point in a half an hour."

"Hook the cages up and let's move out. We'll tie them up and leave them here."

"You can't do this!" Bianca shouts, struggling to break free from her ties as she's shoved roughly against a tree.

"I'll think you'll find we can." The man replies as his companions tie the group up and deposits Pikachu next to them with their pokeballs placed a little way away from them.

"You won't get away with this." Brock says.

"Wrong again. No-one knows where we're going and no-one apart from you know what we're doing and you can't stop us as you're all tied up."

"Ready to move out boss." A man from a truck calls out.

"Goodbye you lot and thank you again for bringing me Absol." He says, patting the side of the cage which holds her.

"urgh." Ash groans as the trucks start to pull away.

"Ash! They're taking Absol!" Sakura shouts.

"What?" Ash cries looking around quickly, seeing Absol looking back at them. "We will get you back Absiol! I promise you I'll find you and release you and your friends!" Absol looks down, sad as the trucks drive out of sight.

"How can we get out when we can't get our pokeballs and are all tied up?" Misty asks, "I don't fancy being here when some bug pokemon come along."

"Sakura, you have to transform and cut out with your claws." Ash tells her.

"That might not be a good idea. If she transforms she could suffocate and herself as the ropes will be too tight."

'Don't worry guys, I got it.' Latios says, appearing in front of them.

"You've been so quiet we've all forgotten about you. You should make a human form like Sakura so you aren't so invisible." Ash says as Latios cuts them free.

'I'll think about it. For now, we need to get Absol back.'

"You're right."

"We'll never find them or catch up to them as they have a head start and are in vehicles.

"But we have Latios and Latias." Ash replies with a grin as Sakura transforms.

"Good point." Misty mumbles. Ash and Bianca climb onto Latias' back with Brock and Misty climbing on Latios. The take-off into the sky, above the forest to get an aerial view.

"Which way did they go?" Ash asks.

'Try and feel the pain of the pokemon that are injured Ash.' Latios says.

"Now isn't the time Latios, we need to get to Absol quickly." Ash snaps.

'Sorry Ash, Latias and I can feel their presence and emotions south of here. As we fly, try to connect to their emotions.'

"I can't, not while I'm worried about Absol." Ash shakes his head.

"Try and relax a bit Ash, you'll end up doing something reckless otherwise." Bianca says soothingly.

"I can't. I promised Absol that I'd protect her and her friends and I've failed at that. I can't relax and if I do something reckless, whoever's on the receiving end will be in pain no matter what happens."

'Down there brother.' Latias says pointing to a small convoy of trucks travelling on a dirt track near the edge of the forest.

"Fly down and drop me off on Absol's cage." Ash says, moving his leg over Latias so he's sitting on her sideways.

'Are you sure you want to do this Ash?' Latios asks.

"Yes. Fly on ahead and block the path, with your pokemon out and their surprise, we should be able to get the pokemon out of those cages in no time."

'Be safe Ash.' Latias says as she flies above the cage. Ash hops off with Pikachu, rolling and nearly falling off the back.

**"Ash!"** Absol exclaims. Ash pulls himself up before replying.

"I said I would help get your friends out of here and to get you back. Sit tight for another minute and then everyone will be released. Come on out Growlithe." Ash replies. Growlithe appears ready for battle but turns to Ash confused as to what they're doing. "I need you to use flamethrower on the edges of the cage so they can escape."

**"Got it Ash"** Growlithe replies, sending a searing flame at the cage.

"Now come on out Espeon." Ash says.

**"What do you need Ash?" **Espeon asks sitting on the top of the cage.

"I need you to use psychic on the ropes binding all the pokemon." Espeon looks down into the cage and his eyes turn blue as does the ropes as the untie, allowing the pokemon to move. Ash looks ahead and sees his friends standing there and the convoy comes to a stop. They all had their pokemon out and rushed forward to the cages. Misty's Gyarados using flamethrower with Bianca's Cyndaquil. Brock's Onix blocks off the path, letting loose a loud roar at the poachers. The poachers jump out of their cars and call out their pokemon, releasing various pokemon. Growlithe, Cyndaquil and Gyarados have worked through 3 of the cages, with Espeon having released every pokemon from their bonds allowing the Houndoom that were captured to use their own flamethrowers.

"Get all these pokemon back!" the thin man orders, sending out a Shedninja, Machamp and Fearow.

"Everyone run into the forest!" Ash shouts, sending out Phanpy and Quilava, "Phanpy use rollout, Quilava use flame wheel, Growlithe use flamethrower on Phanpy, Espeon use shadow ball into the fray of enemies, Pikachu use quick attack to cover the escaping pokemon. Absol use night slash and psycho cut to take down the Shedinja and Machamp." Ash calls out as he runs up to a Zangoose who's using its' sharp claws on a Mightyena. He rugby tackles the Zangoose to the ground and rolls off it, getting up quickly. The Zangoose rises and slashes at Ash. Ash sways away from the attack and punches the Zangoose in the chest sending it staggering back slightly. Ash can hear the commotion around him.

"Cyndaquil, use swift!"

"Starmie, use tackle! Gyarados, use dragonbreath."

"Onix, use wrap!"Ash takes a quick look at the fight that is taking place. Latias and Latios are using their powerful pyschics with Espeon to send the poacher's pokemon flying like ragdolls, Quilava and Phanpy using flamewheel and rollout with Growlithe using crunch or flamethrower at whoever came near her and finally Pikachu who slammed into any of the poacher's pokemon who tried to go after the fleeing pokemon. As he turns back to the Zangoose, he feels an immense pain on his left cheek as the Zangoose slashes at him. It's Ash's turn to stagger back as the Zangoose continues to attack.

'ASH!' Latias cries. Before Latias can get to him, a Grovyle appears from the trees and slashes the Zangoose with a leaf blade, sending it into a tree, before darting across the fight zone, attacking any poacher pokemon in its path. A figure runs after it, dressed in a hoody and trackies. Ash falls to one knee, his shirt torn and long gashes across his chest. 'Why did you have to do that Ash? You're a trainer not a pokemon.'

"I have some of your abilities, so I can fight like a pokemon." Ash replies. He stands up straight and looks over to the Zangoose who has also just got to its' feet. "Go back and help the others. I've got this."

'Ash…'

"GO!" Ash says loudly nudging her away as the Zangoose starts to run towards him. Latias backs off and the Zangoose leaps at Ash. In one swift motion, Ash ducks, pucnhes Zangoose in the stomach, grabs its foot and throws it into another tree, knocking it out.

"Fall back!" The lead poacher shouts out, returning his Machamp and Shedinja as Absol advances towards him past where the fainted pokemon were. "Fearow use drill peck!"

"Pikachu, use thunder!" Absol starts to run at the poacher with Pikachu alongside her. The Fearow dive-bombs them but Pikachu's thunder knocks the pokemon unconscious and off its original trajectory. Absol knocks the man over, snarling in his face.

**"I should rip your throat out right now."** She growls.

"Come on Absol. Your friends are free and we've won this battle. You'll be worse than he is if you kill him. We'll take him to the police station in Rustboro. They'll be there for a very long time." Ash says, putting a hand on Absol's back. Absol glares at the man for a second more before turning away from him. Using the ropes that tied the pokemon up, the group bound the poachers' hands behind their backs and led them to Rustboro police station.

"Officer Jenny, we have a couple of poachers for you." Ash says as he walks in.

"That's more than 'a couple'" Jenny laughs. It's cut short however when Brock grabs her hands and with hearts in his eyes, says,

"Officer Jenny, hearing your heavenly voice say couple, I know that we are meant to be togeth-argh."

"Come on lover-boy, we don't need you to distract Jenny from doing her job." Misty sighs pulling Brock outside by the ear.

"Does he ever not do that?" Bianca whispers.

"He very rarely doesn't. Don't worry though, you'll get used to it."

"Anyway, you have these poachers for the cells."

"Yes, Officer. They were going to sell some dark type pokemon, including my Absol here." Ash replies, gesturing to his pokemon.

"Thank you for bringing them in. A lot of them won't be able to go outside of this building again."

"You hear that Absol. They won't be bothering anymore pokemon."

**"Thank you Ash."** Absol says looking up at Ash.

"You should get those wounds looked at." Jenny says pointing to Ash's chest and cheek.

"I've experienced worse, but I will do." Ash says as they turn and leave. The three (Ash, Bianca and Sakura) meet Misty, Brock and an invisible Latios outside.

'Now we're going to the pokemon centre to get you looked at Ash.' Sakura says, grabbing his hand and pulling him along.

"It's not just me though Sakura, other pokemon need to be treated too."

'You're first though.'

"Ok, slow down though, the others need to catch up."

'They know where we're going and will meet us there.'

"Ok, you win." Ash sighs as they round the corner and hurry on to the pokemon centre ahead. Sakura flings the door open, Ash still being pulled along behind her.

'Nurse Joy, my boyfriend has received some serious injuries from a pokemon attack and would like you to look over him please.'

"Ok, come this way please." Nurse Joy replies, making a mental note that Sakura spoke without moving her lips.

"I have some pokemon that need healing too." Ash pipes up, following Joy through a door.

"Once we've had a look at you, I'll take your pokemon." Joy says as she opens a door, allowing Ash and Sakura to enter. "Please take off your shirt and cap so I can dress the wounds easily." Ash pulls of his clothes much to Sakura's delight as she looks down blushing. Joy gets some white cream and starts to spread it onto Ash's chest and cheek. "I'll take your pokemon to be healed now." Joy says, breaking the silence and wiping her hands on a towel. Ash takes all of the pokeballs from his belt and hands them to Nurse Joy and she leaves the room.

"You happy now?" Ash smiles.

'Yes thank you.' Sakura replies, still looking at the ground.

"Is there a something strange with the floor? You keep looking at it."

'No.' She answers, looking up at a smirking Ash, causing her to blush again.

"Come sit next to me." Ash says, sitting up on the edge of the bed. Sakura sits next to him and rests her head on his shoulder as he wraps a protective hand around her shoulder. They sit like that for a few minutes when Nurse Joy re-enters the room.

"You should be fine in half an hour as long as you don't rub off the cream."

"Thank you Nurse Joy." Ash rises and grabs his bag and cap, throwing his shirt and jacket into the bin.

"Just a quick question before you leave, how can you speak without moving your mouth?" Joy asks Sakura.

'I'm a psychic and can use telepathy. I learnt it as I'm a mute.'

"Oh, that clears it up." She nods, leading the way back to the entrance room. "Also, your pokeballs are waiting by the front desk, they didn't sustain too much damage so the healing didn't take too long."

"Great. If the others are there, we should go and get some food."

'Good idea, all that battling has made me hungry.' They reach the front desk and Nurse Joy hands Ash his pokemon back as the rest of the group walk in.

"How is it Ash?" Bianca asks.

"My pokemon and I are all fine. I can't wear a top for another half hour so I don't really want to leave. Shall we get a few rooms here and eat in the food court here?"

"Sure thing Ash," Misty says, "Just don't let Brock anywhere near the front desk." Ash looks over to Brock and hearts appear in his eyes.

"Oh no." Ash says, he jumps into Brock's path and pushes him back as Brock fights to get to Nurse Joy.

"I need to see my Nurse Joy. Let me go Ash." Brock says dreamily.

"Oh no you don't." Ash replies, straining slightly despite his increased strength. "Hey. Sakura. Can you help me here." Sakura walks over to Brock and flicks his ear, causing Brock to snap out of his trance and hold it.

"Ow! That surprisingly hurts."

'Good.'

"I've got us our rooms." Misty says, giving keys to Ash and Brock, "We should drop our stuff off up there and then head down for dinner." They all walk up the stairs and head to their designated rooms.

"Hey Misty, can you drop my bag upstairs please?" Bianca asks.

"Sure thing, but what will you be doing?"

"I'm going to talk to Latios outside." Bianca whispers.

"Oh, ok. Remember that we'll be having dinner in about ten minutes."

"I know." Bianca says, rushing from the centre.

_'I wonder what she's going to be doing.'_ Misty thinks as she turns and follows Ash, Brock and Sakura up the stairs. She's snapped out of her thoughts by Ash and Pikachu arguing.

"I didn't leave you Pikachu, Sakura pulled me along before I could do anything."

**"But with your superior strength, you could've pulled away."**

"I didn't want to hurt her, Pikachu."

**"A simple tug in the opposite direction wouldn't have hurt her."**

"It could've done. If Umbreon was pulling you along, would you say no and try and get me?"

**"OK, when you put it like that, I suppose I am overeacting slightly."**

'Are you insinuating something you two?' Sakura asks annoyed.

"Uh, no. Just… erm… Pikachu you explain." Ash stutters, running off ahead.

**"Oh no, you're not leaving me again!"** Pikachu calls, taking off after his trainer.

'Come back here!' Sakura says, giving chase. They get to the room and Ash and Pikachu run inside, locking Sakura out. She sighs and her eyes glow blue as she uses psychic to unlock the door. She flings the door open to see Ash and Pikachu hiding behind one of the beds.

'I'm not angry at you two, just annoyed that you'd say something like that.'

"Pikachu wasn't convinced that I could've hurt you so I thought what I'd say if I was being dragged my Misty." Ash says holding up his hands.

**"Uh, yeah. I was too."**

'No you weren't Pikachu. I'm not sure about you either Ash but I'll let it slide.' Sakura says. Ash and Pikachu sigh with relief.

"What shall we do while we wait for the other's?"

**"How about you let all your pokemon out for the next ten minutes?"**

"Good idea. Come on out guys!" Ash says, lobbing the pokeballs into the air. With a blue light, Absol, Phanpy, Quilava, Growlithe and Espeon appear on the beds. "Thanks for the help today, you all did an excellent job." He got a chorus of,

**"Thanks."** From his all his pokemon except Absol, who turns her head and looks out the window at the setting sun. Ash notices this and as the rest of his pokemon play or settle down for some sleep, he sits next to her.

"How are you feeling?"

**"I don't know. I'm happy that the poachers are now locked up."**

"But…"

**"But I can't go back with my friends. I can't play with them every day. I can't train with them every day. I may not even see any of them ever again."**

"You still can go back to them Absol. I can let you go back to them if that's what you want."

**"I don't know if that's what I want though Ash. I will miss them but I also want to explore the world with you. I want to get stronger and more experienced in battling and if I stay, I can only learn so much."**

"You stay here while Sakura and I go down for dinner and you can make up your mind. No matter what you choose, I will know that you chose what you feel is best for you." Ash says as he gets up. "Sakura, let's go down."

'Right with you Ash.' The two walk into the food court and grab some food. As they sit down, Brock and Misty enter. They sit down opposite them with their own food and Misty asks,

"Where's Bianca? I told her to be here."

"She may have lost track of time?" Ash offers.

"No, she's probably too caught up in something." Brock says.

"She'll be here soon, don't worry. Plus she has Sakura's brother with her." Ash says. A few seconds later, Bianca runs in and scans the room. "There she is." Ash says as Bianca runs to the table.

"Sorry I'm a bit late but I had something I wanted to do."

"No problems Bianca. What did you want with Latios?" Misty questions.

"It's better if I show you." Bianca smiles, getting confused looks from everyone. She runs back out the room and reappears holding a guy's hand, pulling him along to the table.

"Bianca, who's this?"

"Everyone, this is Latios."

* * *

**Sorry for the long wait and sorry in advance because school has started again and it'll be harder for me to upload more chapters. Bianca's chosen pokemon will be revealed in the next chapter. Finally, I would like you to give me a name and a description as to what Latios' human form should look like. Thank you for all the support, K9wolf369.**


End file.
